The Forest's Child
by Totally Kowalski
Summary: What happens when a legend comes true? Who is the boy lost in the Forbidden Forest? Can different people band together and show the world that they can make a difference? Find out with Hermione, Harry, and ten others as they tell the tale of the boy who lived in the forest.
1. The Legend

_This is my first Harry Potter story, please read and review. And yes, Hagrid talks this way. -T.K_

Chapter 1:

It was only a legend, but still, it drew sixth year Hermione Granger's fancy. She sat in the library of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, poring over the Quibbler clipping that had arrived two months ago. Shaking her bushy brown hair out of her eyes, she read:

'Reports of a couple of muggles approaching the perimeter confirmed as of last Tuesday. Aurors Nymphadora Tonks and John Dawlish sent on an exploration found the remains of two muggle explorers who seemed to have perished four years ago without food and water. Upon search, said late muggles were in possession of photos of who aurors believe is their son; overwhelming evidence shows that their son, aged at about eight, accompanied them at the time. It is believed that this boy might have survived, but in the conditions of the Forbidden Forest, it would be highly unlikely.'

The report ended there; usually, logical Hermione Granger wouldn't believe a word of the Quibbler, but she knew Tonks had mentioned a legend like that last summer.

"Hey Hermione!" Harry Potter, pushing his glasses up his nose and ruffling his jet black hair, called the girl over. "What are you reading?"

Hermione accompanied her best friend outside to the courtyard, "I was reading about the Forest's Child, a kid who is supposedly lost in these woods." She pointed to the Forbidden Forest; a gust of wind blew through the tops of the trees.

"S'cuse me." A deep voice grunted; Hagrid shuffled past them, carrying an old rotten table. "Dumbledore said I could use this for firewood."

"Look, it's all rotted at the bottom." Read headed and freckled Ron Weasley grinned, pointing at the giant table.

"Have you heard of the Forest's Child?" Hermione asked, but before Ron could answer, Hagrid dropped the table.

_THUMP! CRACK!_ The table lost a leg.

Harry and Ron helped Hagrid drag the table back to his hut while Hermione trailed behind with the leg.

Once they were behind Hagrid's cabin, he sighed and sat on the steps. "So, yer wonderin' 'bout the kid in the fores'?" he asked, a smile appearing in the tangles of his beard.

"Yes." Hermione said quickly. Ron and Harry found giant pumpkins to sit on while listening to the half-giant.

"Well, I don' know all o' it meself, but Tonks told me abou' it." Hagrid said, "Rumor has it that four years ago, there was a couple o' muggles wanderin' around deep inside the forest; ended up getting lost and dyin'. We couldn' bother about them then because o' the whole Chamber fiasco. Recently, the Aurors found the remains o' the muggles and something told them there was a kid with them, the forest has been searched, but he's not been found. Some say that eight year old died, got swept up by the current o' the stream and landed in the bottom o' the lake. But there are others who'll tell yer that he's still alive, avoiding us here and trying to survive; has to live off the stream and fruit from some o' the trees."

Ron's mouth dropped open, "Blimey! A smuggle kid, in the forest, do you believe in the tale, Hagrid?"

Hagrid stared into the forest, "Well Ron, I'm not sure what ter believe. The idea is a bit far-fetched, but it could be true. 'Course I never seen him; I don' think the centaurs do either. Harry? Hey Harry, are you alright?"

Harry had been staring across the horizon in deep thought. "I want to find him." He said suddenly, this kid was like him; they both had no parents, they had to find their own way in the world, and had to struggle to survive against harsh conditions.

Hermione smiled, she wanted to search for the boy as well, but Ron looked horrified at the thought of entering the forest again.

"But, like I said, it's only a legend." Hagrid chuckled nervously. "It's gettin' dark, you three best head on to the castle; leave the investigatin' ter the professionals."

Rather reluctantly, Harry and Hermione followed Hagrid back to the castle, Ron ran ahead, keen to make distance between him and the forest which contained gigantic killer spiders.

As they left, a pair of gray eyes stared at them from the trees.


	2. Research

**A/N: I am back with this story! I have had a sudden bout of inspiration, and this story will continue. Many events will be altered, but it will follow the general storyline of Horcruxes, the Half Blood Prince, what Malfoy is up to, Ron and Lavender's relationship and other things. I'm honestly trying to get Hagrid's dialect correct and keep everyone in character as best as possible. Right now the month would be around October, after Katie was cursed by the necklace. Remember, my first Harry Potter story, don't judge too harshly, and please enjoy the feature presentation…**

Spending Monday afternoon sitting in Divination was not usually a fun experience for Ron and Harry, but sixth year was turning out to be a bit fun. Firenze was a different kind of teacher, the most obvious thing being that he was a centaur. Kicked out of his herd for accepting humans, he was granted this job by Professor Dumbledore.

Ron was concentration on star patterns when Harry nudged him in the ribs.

"Ouch, what?" Ron said.

"Firenze lived in the forest four years ago, right?" Harry said, hoping Ron would pick up the hint.

"Yeah, and the year before and probably many years before that." Ron said, turning back to the stars.

"And he probably knows the forest just as well as Hagrid or even more." Harry pressed, trying to make himself sound obvious.

The bell rang and the class began filing out, but Harry held Ron behind.

"What are you on about?" Ron asked.

"Honestly, Ron?" Harry asked.

"Wha- oh. Oh, you want to ask him about the kid." Ron said, "See you later!"

Harry threw out an arm to prevent the redhead from leaving. "We want to ask him. We're doing it for Hermione."

"Why? When's Hermione ever done anything fo-" His face settled into an annoyed expression, "Never mind." He said.

"You might be interested to know that I can hear you." Firenze said.

"Sorry Professor, I just had a question." Harry said.

Firenze nodded for him to continue.

"Have you seen anything strange in the forest before?"

"Are you talking about a specific time?"

"About four years ago, I heard about a legend that there was a kid lost in the forest. He wasn't Hogwarts age, but he was a muggle."

"We centaurs do not usually care for the whims of humans in our forest," Firenze said, "But I did hear someone muttering something about bones. It was about a year ago and that person was escorted to the Hospital Wing."

"Who was it?" Ron asked.

"Let me guess," Harry said, "Pink, short, and resembled a toad?"

"Yes, it was Dolores Umbridge." Firenze said.

"And we're done with this." Ron said. "Come on, there's no way old toadface would tell us anything even if she was still here."

They hurried and left the classroom for Transfiguration.

"She might not, but maybe Dumbledore can." Harry said. "I have a meeting with him tonight, I can ask him if there was a missing student from his first year list."

"What?" Ron asked.

"Hermione told me that Dumbledore has a book of young witches and wizards and a name appears every time someone magical is born. If he was eight and that was four years ago, then he must be twelve now." Harry said, excitement flooding his brain.

"Hold it." Ron said as Hermione joined them. "Even if this is possible, how can you think he's a wizard? He could be a muggle."

"Impossible." Hermione said. "He couldn't have found the forest if he was a muggle, there's all sorts of enchantments even in the forest. Anyway, the forest is dangerous enough and he couldn't have possibly survived without the aid of magic."

"Alright, but we've been in there." Ron said. "Harry and I were in there four years ago. How come we didn't hear or see him or hear any screams?" He smirked, waiting for her to get out of that one.

"Simple, you were heading off to fight a giant spider. If anyone was still alive, they probably were too far from you and you guys were making a bunch of noise with the car. And besides, if the parents were already dead and the boy heard anything, he probably was too scared to call out or maybe he was sleeping considering how late it was. And don't even ask about the car. The odds of them finding it and driving it out are slim. They could already have been dead by now and the boy had probably been taught not to touch things that aren't his. He was eight, try thinking from his perspective. Furthermore, he probably didn't even know he had magic because his parents were muggles and they probably didn't know. Even if he came across the car, he'd be too afraid because one, the car doesn't have a driver; and two, he doesn't have much common sense so he'd just stay put."

Ron's jaw dropped. Hermione turned and walked ahead of them with a satisfied smile.

Harry chuckled, "Well mate, you did want an answer." He said.

"Shove off, Harry." Ron said. "Anyway, didn't you hear what Hagrid said? Leave this to the professionals."

"Don't you know by now that we're the professionals?" Harry said in Hermione's scolding tone.

"Yes, mum." Ron said.

"Last lesson of the day." Harry said. "Then we get to investigate. We leave the library stuff to Hermione and you and I question people."

"I have a question." Professor McGonagall's voice rang out. "Why is it that you two have not entered my classroom yet?"

They realized that they were standing in the doorway and everyone else had piled in.

"Sorry, Professor" The boys apologized.

"Sit down, please."

When the lesson was over, Hermione pulled Harry and Ron aside to talk about the legend of the child in the Forbidden Forest.

"I'm not setting foot in the forest." Ron said defiantly.

"You don't have to." Hermione said. "At least not yet. I want you to hang out at Hagrid's hut more often. See if anything looks different. I bet if he's eating something, it could be from Hagrid's garden. Just last week I heard him mention to Dumbledore that some vegetables have disappeared."

"I'll bet that's the kid." Harry said.

"Right." Hermione said. "I need to research more about the forest and see if it could ever be possible that muggles came here. I'll also need someone to ask Luna where her dad heard that story."

"I can help." Ginny said from behind them. "I heard 'Luna' and 'need to ask'. Can I be part of whatever you're doing?"

"No." Ron snapped. "This is a private meeting, go away."

"How rude." Ginny said. "And if this is a private meeting, why are you doing it where anyone can eavesdrop?"

"None of your bu-"

"She can help." Hermione said. "She and Luna can do some researching."

"What's it about?"

"Remember that story Tonks told us about?" Hermione said.

"That family found in the forest?"

"Yes, I have reason to believe that the boy still lives and if we had names that would be great."

"Ron, you have Wrackspurts floating near your head." Luna's voice came from a nearby corridor. She took off her Spectrespecs and smiled. "Hello, friends."

"Where'd your dad find that article?" Ginny asked before Ron could retort.

"Article?" Luna asked, "Do you mean the one about the Snorkacks?"

"No, the one about the boy in the forest."

"Oh, that one. I'm not really sure."

"Do you know if there were any names?"

"I do remember seeing something in a muggle newspaper about a family gone missing around here. It was dated four years ago and I think the last name was Everett…" She pondered for a moment, then her misty eyes grew wide, "Now I remember, it was Helen and Jason Everett and their son was eight years old."

"Do you remember his name?" Ginny asked.

"I think it was Alexander." Luna said. "I could ask Dad."

"Okay, but first we have to research the last name." Hermione said. "Ginny and I will search the library. Luna, you can go up to the Owlery with Ron and send a letter to your dad. Ask Hagrid to accompany you. Harry, no matter what happens in the meeting, remember to ask Dumbledore about the Everett family."

Everyone nodded in agreement. Hermione smiled. After dinner, Ron and Luna headed downstairs with Hagrid while Hermione, Ginny and Harry proceeded upstairs together. Harry departed from the girls once they had reached the third floor. The girls then headed to the fourth floor.

Ron and Luna had asked Hagrid right after dinner if he could go with them to send a letter. Luna said it was important that she send it to her dad straightaway. Hagrid agreed and led them to the Owlery. Once Luna had sent her letter, the three of them walked back to the castle, chatting.

"Hey Hagrid," Ron said, "I meant to ask you, have you been missing any vegetables lately?"

"Come ter think about it, for the pas' few years me garden's been robbed." Hagrid said, "'Course they never take a lot, jus' a little. I always suspect creatures in the fores' and don't pay mind to it."

"Have you ever suspected Nargles?" Luna asked.

"What have they stolen?" Ron asked, before Hagrid could respond.

"Far as I can tell, jus' vegetables 'n fruit."

"Oh." Ron said. "Has Grawp ever found anything unusual?"

"Now, if this is 'bout that kid, he prob'ly had sense ter avoid Grawp." Hagrid said, "Ron, would all o' this be on that kid?"

"Well, yes." Ron admitted.

"I gotta stop yeh now." Hagrid said. "The fores' is dangerous, take it from me, you'd be best avoiding that place."

"Believe me, I know." Ron said, shaking the image of giant spiders out of his head.

"But if we could-"

"Nope," Hagrid said, cutting across Luna, "Yer meddlin' again, an' I told yeh many times, you ought not meddle in these things. 'Specially since there's more security, yeh stay away from the forest, and tha' means your friends too."

"Something for Hermione to chew on." Ron said to Luna once they had waved goodbye to Hagrid and headed upstairs. "Security's tightened harder than McGonagall's hair."

Luna giggled, "You're funny sometimes, you know that?"

Ron shrugged. "See you tomorrow." He said once Luna had departed for Ravenclaw Tower.

**WHILE RON AND LUNA WERE IN THE OWLERY…**

Hermione and Ginny had set off to the library. They searched the castle for the history on enchantments that had been placed on Hogwarts over the years.

"Well, there have obviously been improvements of medieval spells through the years." Ginny remarked.

"Yes, but we're looking for protective enchantments over a vast area of forested land." Hermione said. "If the Forbidden Forest is enchanted, then the boy's magic must not have been detected because of the many other magical creatures that live there, plus the enchantments put upon it."

Ginny nodded absently, "Can we take a break?"

"You can, I'm still reading." Hermione said.

"Excuse me, but the library is now closed." Madam Pince said, approaching the girls. "You may check out some of these books if you like."

"Yes please." Hermione said.

Ginny waited until Hermione had finished checking out and they both emerged from the library with five books each.

"All of these are going to help?" Ginny asked.

"Well, some have tidbits of information." Hermione said. "Hogwarts: A History will still be needed."

"Right." Ginny muttered. "Because it's not enough already."

"Relax, we'll find what we're looking for."

"Why couldn't we wait for Harry?"

"He's got other things on his plate."

"Alright."

**MEANWHILE IN DUMBLEDORE'S OFFICE…**

"Professor, I have to ask you something." Harry said when he first entered.

"Evening, Harry." Dumbledore said serenely. "I believe you witnessed Katie's incident?"

"Yes, how is she?" Harry asked, remembering what had only occurred a week ago.

"She was extremely lucky to have survived due to the fact that she only touched the cursed necklace with a small amount of skin due to a hole in her glove. If it had been more or if she had worn it, she might have died."

Thoughts of his teammate and friend drove the original question out of Harry's brain; so Dumbledore proceeded to explain how Merope Gaunt, weak and desperate, sold the locket of Slytherin and died at an orphanage soon after she gave birth.

He then showed Harry the memory of the first meeting with young Tom Riddle. They discussed points of interest such as the fact that Riddle was a Parsletongue, he hated his first name, and that he liked collecting objects that belonged to others and that he showed no remorse for hurting others.

Harry was so absorbed in thought that he almost forgot about Hermione's request.

"Unless you wish to recollect the original question you had, it is time for bed." Dumbledore said softly.

"Oh yeah, I had to ask you something."

"Anything, dear boy, anything."

"Is there a record of a wizard with the surname 'Everett'?"

Dumbledore pondered this. "I shall have to check. Is this a project or a mere whim."

"A search for a legend. He disappeared four years ago in the Forbidden Forest."

"Ah yes, I have heard of this legend." He stood up and walked over to his bookcases in search of something. "There you are." He said, pulling out a rather large book.

He opened it to reveal hundreds of names in small handwriting on each page.

Harry's eyes widened.

"It is rather amazing what you can do with magic, right?" Dumbledore said, smiling. Then he turned to the book and muttered a few words.

"You said Everett, correct?" the headmaster asked.

"Yes, sir." Harry said.

"Everett." Dumbledore said to the book.

Immediately, the book started flipping until it came to stop.

Harry peered at the book and found his name under the year 1991 and all the other first years that were there. Below that was 1992 and Ginny's, Luna's, and Colin Creevey's names were under it with their classmates too. The names were different colors. His name, along with Ginny and Colin, were shining with a red glow while Luna had a blue glow. Malfoy's name was glowing green and Ernie Macmillan's name was glowing yellow.

There were other colors too. Hermione's name was written in black ink and so was Colin's. Harry thought that it was to help the teachers determine who was muggle born so they can explain magic in person.

"Purple and black are for students who haven't yet started Hogwarts." He pointed out a student named Stephen dated 1999. "They are children, but the book predicts when they will come to Hogwarts. Purple determines if the child is Half-Blood or Pureblood, and black helps us identify muggle borns who need help. In the case of Tom Riddle, his was black and purple because he was half blood, but knew nothing about magic. Yours was the same. If the child unfortunately dies before coming, the book will have their name in black ink with a white glow."

But another color caught his eye. It was a name, written in black ink amongst different colors, yet it did not glow. It was dated 1993, the name: Alexander Everett.

"The book has not identified him as dead." Dumbledore said. "Rather intriguing, don't you think?"

"Can you look for relations?"

"I can most certainly try." The headmaster pointed his wand at the book and it began to flip backwards. "How can this be?" he asked himself.

Harry scooted closer to see the name it landed on

"Marlene McKinnon?" Harry asked.

Dumbledore waved his wand and the book showed a family tree. McKinnon had a younger half brother by the name of Jason who had married a girl named Helen. After the murder of his family, Jason had changed his last name and went into hiding with his wife and had a baby they called Alexander.

"Was Jason muggle born?" Harry asked.

"A Squib, I think." Dumbledore said. "It is my guess that he had no magical powers himself, but his son did. It is very late now, Harry. Go on to bed."

"Alright," Harry said. "Goodnight."

He rushed to the common room, eager to tell Ron and Hermione about the lesson.

First, he told them and Ginny what the book had said about the Everett family. Then after Ginny went on to bed, he described the lesson with Dumbledore.

"Scary to think about, You Know Who as a child." Ron had remarked.

"I think we should look for him tomorrow after lessons." Hermione said.

"What?!" Ron yelped.

"She means Alexander." Harry said.

"Oh, I knew that." Ron said, his ears turning pink.

"Tomorrow after lessons." Harry agreed.

"Yeah, but I'm not going in that bloody forest." Ron said defiantly.


	3. Putting words to action

**Do not fret, I did not abandon this story. It just takes me longer…especially now since I just realized I'm trying to write six different stories at once… I'm ultra busy with school…and another is worming it's way into my head and I can't get rid of it…**

**Hopefully everyone is in character or as in character as it is possible to make them. This story has been difficult for me to keep going sometimes, but I want to continue it if you like it. **

**Now, on with the show!**

Ron was falling asleep to the low drone that belonged to their History of Magic teacher, Professor Binns. He honestly tried to stay alert as soon as Binns began talking, but he found himself taking back those words five minutes later. He felt it was a personal record having lasted five minutes and sunk into the stupor that only Hermione seemed immune to.

Time seemed to pass slowly for the youngest Weasley son…

What time was it anyway?

Maybe he'll take a short nap…

His head barely touched the table when something hit him in the head.

"Wha-?" He looked around and spotted a crumpled ball of paper on the ground. He looked again to find Harry grinning. A red spot on Harry's head along with his jet black hair sticking up told Ron that Harry had fallen asleep at some point or at least had his head on the desk for a while.

He flattened it out on his desk and read the short message. It informed Ron to sneak food from the Great Hall before meeting Harry and Hermione in the Common Room as planned.

"You could have told me." Ron said. "We're sitting right next to each other."

Harry shrugged.

"What's up?" Ron wondered, staring at his silent friend. "Got a Silencio charm on you?"

"No." Harry answered. "Not everyone is asleep." His head twitched.

Ron followed the movement to see Pansy Parkinson giving them a nasty look.

"I think she heard you fart, mate." Harry chuckled.

"Look away, Parkinson." Ron muttered under his breath.

"Does Parkinson know she has a disease named after her?" Ernie Macmillan said loudly, having caught what Ron just said.

Ron snorted in laughter, but Harry's eyebrows narrowed.

"Idiot." Hermione hissed.

"ERNIE MACMILLAN I WILL END YOU!"

There was a collective jump at those words and the class turned their attention to Anthony Goldstein. Hermione was among the few who gritted their teeth and attempted to concentrate on Professor Binns who was amazingly going on as if there wasn't a disturbance in class. Even the Slytherins turned to see the blond Ravenclaw furiously stand up, knocking over his chair in the process. Whichever Muggle-born and Half Blood students were listening muttered among themselves or explained what Ernie just said to Pureblood friends.

"What?" Ernie said innocently.

"A life threatening disease is hardly anything to joke about." Anthony growled.

Once a Ravenclaw passed the information to Slytherin house, the entire class was glaring at Ernie.

"Do I have something on my face?"

Students scooted closer to their desks as Anthony stormed by. He reached Ernie and grabbed the Hufflepuff's shirt.

"Shut your pompous mouth and listen." Anthony snarled. "My Grandmother and my father died of that disease. I don't care how many Parkinsons you know or get on your nerves. I honestly don't care if you insult Slytherins but you do NOT make fun of Parkinson's disease. It has nothing to do with the student sitting in class right now and it most certainly isn't a subject to laugh at."

"B-but Weasley started it." Ernie said, abandoning all pompous pretense. He was actually shaking. The Ravenclaw was shorter than him by mere inches, but all the same put out a wave of rage in one look.

"Don't drag me in, mate." Ron said. "All I said was look away because she was staring at us."

"Y-you guys are my best friends…help me!" Ernie squeaked to Hannah Abbot and Justin Finch-Fletchley."

"My uncle has it." Hannah piped up. "Anthony's right, it's not funny."

"Yeah." Justin agreed.

"Guys…" Ernie groaned.

"Macmillan…"

"Oh look, lesson's over." Ernie laughed nervously as the bell sounded around the castle, signaling the end of the day.

Professor Binns left without paying attention to the scuffle in the middle of his classroom. A few intimidated students ran out, but the majority, consisting of all four houses, stayed to watch the outcome.

Hermione tugged at Harry and Ron's robes, but they wanted to stay.

"I want to see Ernie get the crud pounded out of- "

"NOW." Hermione demanded.

"Bloody-"

"What is going on here?" A stern voice snapped.

The class looked around nervously as Professor McGonagall entered.

"You three better not be-"

"No, ma'am." Harry said. "We were just leaving." He said innocently.

"Why don't I believe you, Potter?" She asked.

"Because James Potter's my father."

"He's telling the truth Professor. Macmillan took something I said out of context and changed it to something that made Anthony angry." Ron said. "All I said, to myself, was for Parkinson to stop glaring at us."

"Macmillan, Goldstein, Parkinson, and Weasley stay. The rest of you will vacate this room before I give you all detention."

Professor McGonagall stepped outside as the class scrambled to grab their things and rushed out the door.

"Ron-"

"I'll meet you later." Ron said, cutting across Hermione. "After all, when have I ever let you down?"

Harry snorted this time. "Fourth year?"

Ron blushed. "Yeah, I mean apart from that."

"Potter, Granger, continue this conversation later." Professor McGonagall said.

"Of course." Hermione said, dragging Harry out of the classroom. Harry managed to close the door before she yanked him again.

"Ow, I'm following!" He said. "By the way, why did you want Ron to snea-"

"Not here." Hermione hissed, elbowing him in the stomach.

Harry coughed. "I repeat, OW!"

"Sorry." Hermione said sincerely. "We need to get food for the boy." She whispered after checking that the corridor was clear.

Harry nodded. "Can't be easy living off of whatever Hagrid grows in his garden…better than what he cooks."

"I don't know if there ever was a truer statement." Hermione said.

"Remarkable, Hermione doesn't know something." Harry said with an idiotic expression.

The girl rolled her eyes at him. "I asked Luna and Ginny to keep our mission a secret." She said. "Maybe we can go down to the kitch-"

"No." Harry said automatically. Hermione looked taken aback. "Hermione, you're my friend and I no doubt know that you have the best intentions but you and the kitchens are not compatible."

"Pardon?"

"You upset the House Elves and most certainly got on Winky's case about Crouch." Harry explained. "I don't think they want you in the kitchens. Ron and I can go."

"Ron's going to be stuck in there for a while." Hermione said. "However, you and Ginny can go down there and when Ron gets out, Luna will tell him what happened while I wait under the Cloak in the Entrance Hall."

"Planned it out, have you?"

"Don't you know me by now?"

"Heard my name." Ginny said, appearing from around the corner.

"Really?" Harry asked.

"No, silly! But I did hear you, I just got back from Defense Against the Dark Arts."

"Ah." He and Hermione just realized that they had actually been walking down.

"By the way, plans have changed a bit." Hermione said. She whispered the new plan into Ginny's ear.

She nodded and grinned.

The three of them left to find Luna before heading down to dinner. Harry fetched his cloak from Gryffindor Tower.

Ron came in just when his sister and best friends were finished eating. He was about to complain when Luna came over and whispered something to him.

Ron nodded and continued eating. When Luna was done, she waved to Ron happily and opened the doors with a nod. Ron took that as the signal to be finished.

His face remained expressionless as he stretched and walked out. He looked around until a shoe caught his eye. It was an old trainer that was moving by itself.

Ron looked around and as soon as the coast was clear he approached the shoe. He saw Hermione and Harry's faces as the cloak was thrown over him.

"We really are too tall…" Harry remarked. He gave Ron the bag of food. "Here you go, mate."

Hermione shushed him.

The three of them made sure no one was in their line of sight and exited the castle.

"What about security?" Ron whispered. "The front doors lock at night."

"Luna and Ginny know we'll only be gone two hours. Luna's going back in the Great Hall with the excuse that she went to the restroom. Ginny's staying in the common room. In two hours, Ginny will come down and meet Luna. If the castle doors are about to be locked, they're going to tell Hagrid before he leaves. He's less likely to yell at us."

"Brilliant." Harry said.

"Did you doubt me?" Hermione asked.

"Nope."

"Slightly."

Hermione gave Ron a pinch. He complained, but was ignored.

They reached the edge of the forest just behind Hagrid's hut.

Ron set the bag of food down and the three of them backed up. Harry imitated a bird call while Hermione conjured a gust of wind so the scent of food would go into the forest. Ron watched the trees carefully.

After an hour, the freshening charm that Hermione had put on the food was beginning to wear off.

"It's too obvious." She hissed. She came out from under the cloak and grabbed the bag. She threw food at some trees and left a pile dumped on the ground.

"Isn't that germy?"

"Which is why I put another spell on it so it wouldn't get contaminated, Harry." Hermione said.

They stayed in silence for another half hour. Their time was almost up. The chilly October air seemed to only get colder.

Harry put a hand on Hermione's shoulder. She looked at him, though she could only see the shadows, and recognized defeat. She was about to summon the food when there was a rustle from the trees."

The trio stopped.

A shadow moved in the dim light of the moon. It bent down and a sniffing noise was heard. Something, a hand maybe, snatched up a chicken leg and took a noisy bite from it.

The three Gryffindors didn't dare move a muscle for fear of frightening whatever was in the shadows.

The shadow inched forward towards a steak and kidney pie. It looked human in shape and looked smaller than the three hidden teens.

It grabbed the pie and began devouring it messily. Hermione knew it was messy because she saw chunks falling to the ground.

The shadow, which remained hardly visible, devoured the food around the forest until only the small pile remained. It got down on all fours and looked around, sniffing.

All of the sudden it pounced at the food. Ron had to suppress a yelp.

The shadow, exposed by moonlight, took the form of a child. The child was small and wary, looking around nervously.

"Alexander." Hermione whispered.

The boy straightened up, looking around again.

_He's nervous_. Hermione said. She slipped out from under the cloak.

The boy fell back in shock as the girl appeared from nowhere.

"It was I who gave you the food." Hermione said in a soft and kind voice. "Don't be scared."

The boy scrambled to his feet with a bread roll in his hand and fled. Hermione, in an uncharacteristic manner, recklessly ran after him.

"Hermione!" Ron and Harry yelled.

"OI!" Hagrid's booming voice echoed across the grounds. His large figure was approaching them. A smaller figure was seen in the light flooding from the Entrance Hall. "You three best not be out here." He growled.

"It's my fault." Ron said, emerging from the cloak. "Stay here, I have a plan." He hissed to Harry.

"I oughta take points from yeh." Hagrid said. "What did I tell yeh about wanderin' off after that kid? Or I should ask, what do yeh think yer doin' about the grounds this late when security's tighter?"

"I wanted to see the light on the lake."

"Eh?"

"When I was little, my family was visiting my Great Aunt. One night after exploring, I got lost on my way to Aunt Muriel's house. There was a lake and the moonlight looked so beautiful that I stopped to stare at it. Eventually, Percy found me because I was skipping rocks and he could hear it, but I was so peaceful there. I-I guess I wasn't thinking and I brought my friends…"

Hagrid gave a heavy sigh. "Harry, Hermione, you could have stopped them…eh, where are yeh?"

"Under the cloak, hidden in shame." Harry said. "I know I'm not supposed to be out here." _And I'm terrified out of my wits that Hermione's in trouble…I KNOW what's in that forest…_ "I'm sorry."

"Well, Hermione? Anythin' to add?"

Silence.

"Hermione, I'm not goin' to yell at yeh." Hagrid said softly.

Harry sighed and cleared his throat. "I know, Hagrid." He said in a near perfect imitation of Hermione. "I guess I wasn't thinking."

Ron had to press his hand to his mouth to prevent laughter from coming out.

"I-I was just so moved by Ron's story that I…I disregarded the rules…I suppose it's because of these two delinquents rubbing off on me." Harry added with a sniff of disapproval at the end.

"Sure yer alright?" Hagrid asked. "Yeh sound like yeh have a bit o' a cold."

"Yes, a little bit."

"Odd, yeh sounded fine in Care o' Magical Creatures earlier."

We're doomed. Harry thought. So doomed…

Ron looked around frantically as if there would be a sign of Hermione. Then he hatched a brilliant idea.

"Hagrid, I don't feel so…"

THUD

Harry gave a squeak worthy of Hermione and then spoke in his normal voice. "He fainted."

"It's a'right I got 'im." Hagrid lifted Ron and walked back up to the castle. "Now Harry, I'm goin' easy on you three, but next time yer wanderin' the school at night, I'm not goin' to be so lenient, got it?"

Ron opened an eye to see Hagrid looking around. He had received no reply and stopped with Ron in his arms.

"Hagrid." Ron said hoarsely. "I feel better now."

Hagrid put Ron down on his feet and scratched his head.

"Harry? Hermione"

"Hagrid, I think he went inside."

"Rubbish, he was right 'ere- wait…did yeh say 'he'?"

"Yes, why?" Ron slapped a hand over his mouth as soon as realized what he had said.

"Not they? Where's Hermione?" He gave Ron a dangerous look.

Ron tried to stand his ground. "I meant they. They went inside."

"Would yeh tell Dumbledore the same story?"

"I-"

"Tell me what yer up to and yeh might not be in detention. Luna said somethin' 'bout fresh air. I don't buy that codswallop."

"Harry probably went to get Hermione."

"And where's Hermione?" Hagrid said in the lowest tone ever heard from the Groundskeeper.

"S-she ran after the kid in the forest." Ron squeaked.

Hagrid turned on the spot so fast, Ron actually let out a yelp of terror.

"Get in the castle. Anyone askes, yer waitin' fer me." He said in the same dark tone.

"Y-yes sir." Ron said, running into the castle. He looked back to see Hagrid furiously marching towards the forest.

"WEASLEY!"

"FREDNGEORGEDIDITNOTMEIMINNOCENT!"

"What are you babbling on about?"

Ron turned to see Professors Snape and McGonagall along with the Headmaster.

"Weasley, dinner is over. Get back to your common room." Snape snapped. "I'll leave you to it then." He said after receiving a sharp glare from McGonagall. He walked away, leaving the teacher and student at the door.

"I-I'm w-waiting for…for Ha-Hagrid." Ron stammered. He trembled as he spotted Professor McGonagall's livid face.

It was worse than the seemingly x-ray vision of Dumbledore's blue eyes. Every student feared this more so than the head of the school. The thinness of the lips, the narrowing of the eyebrows, the nostril flare, the piercing stare of the eyes…it was common to fear these traits in Professor Minerva McGonagall.

"I believe Hagrid was inside before he found you." McGonagall said in a low, icy tone. "Now why am I hearing that you three were outside? And where are Miss Granger and Mr. Potter? It would be wise not to lie to me. Explain now."

Hesitation flickered into the ginger's face. He knew that if he told her everything, the three of them could be expelled. Maybe not Hermione with her perfect marks, but Ron definitely could be expelled with Harry. Not to mention that his sister and Luna were in trouble as well. He'd also get a Howler from his mother.

If he didn't tell, then they'd get in trouble and likely be questioned for hours until they broke down into sobs. Either way ended up in punishment, Howler, and plenty of suspicion. He knew he could blame Hermione, but she's his friend and he would never do that. How Professor McGonagall managed to be strict and yet favor Hermione as a student was beyond him.

Ron concluded that it was the eyes. The eyes seemed to bore into the student's head, knowing that they did wrong. The eyes judged every student that entered Transfiguration, dug through their brains and made them tell her. The eyes knew when you were lying, they knew when Ron was scared and that there was no way out.


	4. Expulsion?

"Well?"

It had been two minutes and all Ron could do was stare in utter terror at the Deputy Headmistress and head of Gryffindor House. He gave a dry swallow and opened his mouth with a shaky inhale.

He attempted to speak, but he felt as if his mouth was full of cotton and he merely uttered a squeak.

"Mr. Weasley, tell me now and your punishment will be less severe."

Ron licked his lips and attempted to speak again.

"I-"

"OH GOSH HELP ME!" A bloodcurdling scream came from the staircases. "IT HURTS! IT BURNS!"

"Colin?" Ron gasped, having recognized the voice as well as a mangled camera dangling from his neck.

Colin Creevey was standing there, covered in boils and blisters. His skin had turned completely green and the boils were an angry red with pus coming out of them. His legs had been turned into tentacles and he had small black spikes on him. He looked like he was halfway transfigured into a Bubotuber plant. On top of that, his eyes had been turned into red orbs with no pupils and he had mousy brown antennae on his head where his hair used to be. His nose and ears had also vanished. The clothes he was wearing looked like they were corroded from acid spills and he currently had a torn piece of cloth across his chest and overstretched boxers on.

"Creevey, what happened?"

"THE HORROR…THE HORROR!" He screamed, scratching at his noodle-like arms. A green leaky substance came out of his arm. "I'M BLEEDING!"

He ran up to the two professors with tears in his eyes. If not for the fact that Ron had said his name, he would have been unrecognizable. Up close, they saw that his teeth interlinked as if it was a zipper.

Professor McGonagall waved her wand. "Finite."

Colin's appearance returned to normal except for the green skin, the torn clothes, and the teeth. The camera had vanished into nothingness.

"Mr. Creevey, what on earth happened?" Professor Dumbledore asked.

Colin took several deep breaths and promptly toppled over in a dead faint.

"Alright, we shall continue this discussion later Mr. Weasley." Professor McGonagall said. "Take Creevey to the Hospital Wing. Bear in mind that tonight's events are by no means excused. You and your friends have very much explaining to do. I expect you three in my office as soon as Hagrid returns with Granger and Potter. I'll leave you to bring Granger and Potter, Albus."

"Certainly" Professor Dumbledore said.

Ron grabbed Colin's arm and heaved him up. Professor McGonagall led the way to the fourth floor. As they ascended the stairs, Ron looked back to catch a knowing look in Dumbledore's eyes.

_Bloody hell, Harry asked Dumbledore about the kid…Harry's right, we're doomed_. Ron thought. _And what's more is that Mum and Dad are going to hear about this and so are Hermione's parents and Harry's relatives….Oh bugger, his Aunt and Uncle will kill him for being expelled. How's Harry supposed to beat You-Know-Who if he's been expelled and his wand snapped in half? How am I supposed to face my brothers and Ginny…BLOODY HELL, I FORGOT ABOUT GINNY! She and Luna will be in so much trouble if anyone finds out that they're a part of this. Mum will kill me for sure. Not to mention that Luna's dad would be upset that we got his daughter in trouble…maybe the two of them will be safe from expulsion but the three of us won't be. And how much does Creevey know? If he's discovered, he'll be in trouble too…unless Luna and Ginny didn't say anything. If that's the case, he'll be in less trouble than Luna and Ginny. Maybe some lines will be given to him about not going along with ridiculous plans. The girls will get weeks worth of detention or possibly months…Hermione could narrowly avoid expulsion, but then again the whole thing was her idea….WHAT AM I THINKING? I CAN'T RAT THEM OUT! If Harry and I say nothing, then we'll be expelled…EITHER WAY AN EXPULSION IS BOUND TO TAKE PLACE AND WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO-?_

"Poppy, I have a student for you to take care of." McGonagall called.

Ron gave a start; he hadn't realized they'd arrived at the Hospital wing already.

Madam Pomfrey came out in a nightgown and sighed. "Bring them in." She said, bustling off to get a bed ready. Neither of them had noticed the ginger's panicked face before he heaved Colin onto the bed and panted with exhaustion.

"What happened?" The matron asked.

"I honestly don't know." Ron said. "He came out like this. I swear it wasn't planned at all."

"Why was he out of the dorm at this hour?" McGonagall said. "Obviously he should have come straight here. Why did he come to the Entrance Hall?" she asked as Madam Pomfrey began examining Colin.

"With all due respect, I'd rather wait for Harry and Hermione to help me." Ron mumbled.

Both witches gave a disapproving look, but dropped the subject.

A bright red flame appeared in thin air right in front of them and disappeared as quickly as it had come.

"Alright Weasely, to my office." McGonagall said.

"Mr. Creevey is fine in my care." Pomfrey said. "By the way, he was wearing these." She held up a plastic set of teeth above Colin's open mouth.

Neither of them noticed Colin open his eye and give Ron a wink. Ron gave weak smile before putting on a puzzled expression at the sight of the teeth.

"That would explain why magic didn't work." Professor McGonagall said.

"Why not?" Ron asked as they left the Hospital Wing.

"The spell I used ends most hexes and curses used. Since he was wearing those imitation teeth, it had no effect on the non-transfigured teeth."

"Oh."

"Was this your idea as well?"

"I can honestly say that I did not expect Colin." Ron said.

"Are your sister and Miss Lovegood part of this?"

"Er…"

"I believe they were the ones who told Hagrid where you'd be. Unfortunately you didn't count on Severus listening in."

"Stinkin' snake." Ron muttered under his breath.

"I am going to pretend I did not hear that." Professor McGonagall said. Ron's ears turned pink. "But you three are going to have to explain being outside with no supervision or permission whatsoever. Your families will be notified."

Ron's face changed color to match his ears. "Please don't expel us."

"Weasley…you, Granger, and Potter broke major school rules in your first year alone."

"I know, Professor."

"And in your second year."

Ron cringed. "I had to save my sister."

"Your sister was not endangered when you flew a car into the Whomping Willow."

"Technically no one told us we couldn't fly to school in a car that we didn't enchant."

"Technically you had an owl."

Ron closed his mouth; it was true that Hedwig had indeed been with them. And in reality, his parents could have Apparated to the car and taken the boys to school.

"Also in third year, Potter managed to be caught several times out of bed and the three of you left the castle at night."

"But-"

"I know what followed, but it was still a rule."

"We didn't break any rules in fourth year."

"Potter got in a wand fight with Mr. Malfoy. I believe it led to Miss Granger hiding out in the Hospital Wing to shrink her teeth."

"Still, it wasn't me."

"This may not have been a school rule, but you broke your loyalty to Mr. Potter."

"I know!" Ron grumbled. "Why does everyone have to keep reminding me? One time people, one time…"

"Last year…well, I think you know what happened last year."

"It wasn't a rule yet! And it was Umbridge's rule so-"

"Forget her, you three still left school grounds with Longbottom, Lovegood, and your sister in the evening."

"Yeah, I don't think Harry wants a repeat of that knowledge." Ron said, rolling his eyes.

Professor McGonagall raised an eyebrow. "Watch the sarcasm, Weasley; you are still speaking with a teacher."

"Right. Sorry Professor, it won't happen again."

"Do I honestly believe that?"

"I suppose not. But we're teenagers; we break rules all the time. Even Percy broke a rule!"

Professor McGonagall looked shocked. "Really? Are we talking about your brother? What on earth was the rule?"

"Yeah, him, he broke a rule. It happened when he was fourteen. It's a bit stupid, really, but he was out in the village and came home one minute past his curfew. His tearful apology came the next morning. Mum and Dad were honestly trying not to laugh…Fred, George, Ginny, and I couldn't keep it in. When he left for Hogwarts, Mum told us that she'd seen him from the window. He hadn't seen her at all because he was staring at his watch. She and Dad pretended to be asleep when they heard him sneaking up the creaky stairs." He scowled inwardly, remembering that he no longer spoke to his distant brother.

"Well that rule didn't endanger his life if your parents knew exactly where he was. We didn't know you three had gone after the Sorcerer's Stone until too late. We didn't discover that you'd gone into the Chamber of Secrets until well past midnight. No one knew you were going to Hagrid's to support his Hippogriff. No one knew what Mr. Potter had seen-"

"Sorry, but I must say that Snape did know." Ron interjected. "Harry gave Snape a coded message that should have been given a confirming nod or something. Maybe a message in Occlumency."

Professor McGonagall rolled her eyes. "Occlumency is not telepathy." She opened a door. "But it is a way to find out where you three have been."

Ron sighed and entered the office.

Harry and Hermione were sitting there, staring at their laps. Both were unharmed, but covered in dirt and leaves. Hermione looked the paler of the two and bit her lip until it was almost as pale as her skin. Harry simply gazed downward with a blank expression.

Professor Dumbledore sat in a chair he'd conjured up. Professor McGonagall sat next to him in her own chair while Ron sat between Harry and Hermione.

"I told yeh." Hagrid said gruffly. "I told yeh, Ron. You ought not meddle in this. I told yeh from the start ter leave this for the professionals, did I not?"

"You did." Ron admitted, not making eye contact.

"You both realize that Miss Weasley and Miss Lovegood are going to be in trouble as well." Professor Dumbledore said.

_There's that tone again._ Harry thought._ I_ _wish he'd just yell or something…_

But no, Dumbledore didn't yell. He spoke in a slow, doleful, disappointed voice.

"P-please sir, they wanted to help." Hermione said. "We told them it was dangerous."

"They will be receiving two months worth of detention as well as a written note explaining that they'd taken part in something foolish." Professor McGonagall said.

"But they didn't go outside, Professor." Ron said. "I made sure of that."

"No, but they allowed you three to leave the castle at night." Professor Dumbledore said. "Was Mr. Creevey part of your initial plan?"

"Colin?" Hermione asked. "Why would Colin be part of this?" She looked to Harry who could only return a shrug.

"By this, I will assume not. If Miss Lovegood and Miss Weasley put him up to it then he shall be receiving a reasonable punishment such as lines."

Ron sighed, and then he tensed. "A-and us, sir?"

"First, we must discuss this. I am certain you three realize that the castle has been secured more than ever." The trio nodded. "You put your lives in danger for a quest best left to the Aurors."

"We know." Harry mumbled.

"Harry, this is especially dangerous for you. I must ask why you three left school grounds. I assume it is not the poor excuse you gave Mr. Hagrid. Whose idea was it to embark on a nighttime journey that could have gotten you killed?"

All three of them fidgeted uncomfortably, feeling as if they were toddlers getting scolded for hitting someone.

Hermione let out a terrified squeak and Harry raised his head a few inches, but Ron spoke before either of them could say anything.

"Mine." He said. "It was my fault. I convinced Hermione to read this article in the Quibbler and I got her to believe that I wanted to see if this legend was true. Please don't punish them, I dragged them into it. I just really wanted to go into the forest and see for myself if it was true. I prodded Hermione into following-"

"Hold it, Ron." Hagrid said. "Yeh hate the fores', I know it. All them spiders creep yeh out."

"It does seem odd that you would want to go back to a place that does not settle with you." Professor McGonagall said, raising an eyebrow.

"I-er…"

"Mr. Weasley, I do understand if you do not wish to tell on your friends, but I implore you not to lie about this." Professor Dumbledore said. "I know that all three of you have been looking. Researching in the library, asking others. Harry, was this your idea?"

Harry could feel three sets of eyes on him. He chose to look at a point above Hagrid's right shoulder. "Well…" he said. "It's actually…er…it's hard to explain really…"

"Honestly Mr. Potter, it's a straightforward yes or no. Was this or was this not your idea?" Professor McGonagall asked sternly.

"The thing is…about that…Hey, how about them Chudley Cannons?"

Ron snickered.

"Harry!" Hagrid snapped.

Harry's eyes locked onto Hagrid's. The half-giant's brown eyes seemed to be goading him towards the truth. He couldn't lie to Hagrid…and somehow, he knew that his mother couldn't either…

"It wasn't."

Hermione looked mortified at Harry's answer. She shakily looked up at Professor McGonagall with tears in her eyes.

"I-it's m-my fa-fault." She stuttered.

"Miss Granger, why did you go looking for this legend?"

"I had to see if he was real." She mumbled dejectedly. "And he is."

"Pardon?" Professor Dumbledore asked.

All eyes were on her.

"He's real. I saw him get the food I set out for him."

"It's true; we followed him as far as we could. I think he actually stopped to listen to Hermione before Hagrid found us." Harry said, looking Dumbledore in the eye.

"But it's still dangerous there." Professor McGonagall said. "I- Albus, are you alright?"

A smile appeared on Dumbledore's face as well as the twinkle in his eyes. "I am fine, Minerva."

"P-Professor?" Hermione said.

"Alright, I am certain the three of you do not want to be expelled."

"We do not." Harry said.

"How do we fix this?" Ron asked.

"I have a challenge for you three."

The students looked puzzled.

"What do you mean, Professor?" Harry asked.

"I won't expel you-"

"YES!"

"I was not done, Mr. Weasley."

"Sorry."

"I will not expel you if you can complete a rather tedious task."

The trio stared at the headmaster.

"What is it?" Hermione asked nervously.

"You three are to find the boy, in broad daylight mind you, and bring him to the castle. From there, you are to teach him proper behaviors and speech. You are also going to be monitoring his progress for me and keeping him out of trouble. If he has improved by the end of Easter holidays, I will reconsider your expulsion."

The students gaped at him.

"And you believe this is fitting, Albus?" Professor McGonagall asked.

"Oh yes, nothing more troublesome than raising a child who has spent four years in the forest."

"In that case, I am going to bed. Good luck, you three." She stood up and briskly into her private quarters.

Hagrid sighed and left to return to his hut.

"Are you sure we can do this?" Ron asked.

"We don't have a choice, Ron." Harry said. "Professor, does this include our lessons?"

"Yes, Harry, you must still come when I inform you. I do realize you have busy sixth year schedules, but I think you can make room for mentoring."

"Right." Ron muttered.

"Come on, we can do this!" Hermione said. "I for one am glad to have a chance to change a life."

"Well, if you put it that way then I'm in." Harry said.

"I'm in as soon as you get him out of the forest." Ron said.

Harry rolled his eyes and grinned.

"Then I suggest we exit before Professor McGonagall kicks us out." Professor Dumbledore said.

The four of them left the office and headed up to the seventh floor.

"No more nighttime wanderings, please." Professor Dumbledore warned as the students climbed into the portrait. He shook his head slowly as he received mixed and vague responses.

"Tell me about it." The Fat Lady said as the portrait closed. "I wish I could grab them and throw them back in, but alas, I am just a painting."

"Much more than that my dear Lady, you are a piece of history." Dumbledore said. "And a rather remarkable one as well."

"Why thank you- GO TO BED."

Laughter was heard from inside the portrait hole.

The Fat Lady sighed. Dumbledore bid her goodnight and went back to his office.

Colin had been released when it was discovered that his skin was spray-painted green. Madam Pomfrey made him take three showers before she was satisfied. His skin still had a greenish tinge, but was unharmed. He and Ginny were waiting for the trio to enter.

"You're not in too much trouble." Harry said. "Just lines or something."

Colin seemed satisfied and went off to bed.

Hermione yawned and told Ginny she'd explain to her and Luna what had happened that evening.

While Hogwarts fell into slumber, one child was awake and alert. This child didn't know that big changes were about to present itself to him. He didn't even know that that night was a big change. He wished to hear the voices again and see the two people who had followed him. They looked close in age to him like the short young ones he saw. He had been frightened of the giant man, but not the tall young ones. He burrowed into his makeshift bed among the trees and shivered at the cold. He fell asleep to a warm feeling that covered and protected him. He was so exhausted and full of good food; he didn't see Giant Man return to his hut or the bigger giant fall asleep in a location much closer to his hideout than before.

**A/N: I would really love to continue this story, but I need more reviews to feel like it's worth it. I only have one genuine review so far. If this story needs improving, tell me what I can do. If I don't have at least four genuine, honest reviews by the end of the month, I am considering taking this story down. I really don't want to have to do that because I have a pretty good plan for it. So please review, that's all I'm asking. You can leave a small or lengthy comment. You can even review in another language, I won't mind. **


	5. The Search

"RONALD!"

"EYAHH!"

THUD!

Ron slowly picked himself off the floor, groaning in pain. He rubbed his head and glared at Hermione.

"Was that absolutely necessary?" He grumbled.

"Yes." Hermione said seriously. "Get dressed." She turned and left the boys dorm.

"Come on, mate. Today's the day." Harry said. "We're going to see if Alexander will come out. And Dumbledore said we can bring more food."

"And 'Ron, wake up.' Couldn't do?" Ron complained as he changed his clothes. "Or shake or tap me? You had to let her scream in my ear…"

"Believe me, I tried to wake you. I even threw my pillow at you." Harry said.

"And you couldn't have left it there for me to fall on?"

Harry grinned widely.

"You are such an ar-"

"Now, Ron." Harry said, imitating Mrs. Weasley. "We don't go around swearing everywhere. Honestly, set a good example for the younger children. I mean, you ARE a prefect!"'

"Two words, bugger off." Ron said.

"Would you tell your mother that?"

"Oh bloody- She's probably going to send me a Howler."

Ron's prediction came true as Errol flew in with a red envelope. Ron took it and ran out immediately. Everyone in the Great Hall only heard a loud, muffled voice. They couldn't make out what it was saying.

Luna and Ginny received regular letters. Luna's father said he was worried and hoped she didn't have too many Wrackspurts floating around near her. Mrs. Weasley told Ginny that she was never to go out in the forest without adult supervision again and that she was writing Ron to tell him off for including her. Colin's parents were also concerned that he would partake in more foolish things and told him to just keep doing well.

Harry received a letter from his uncle which stated that he had better not be kicked out of his 'freak' school because they didn't want to have to deal with his 'freakishness' more than they already had to.

Hermione's parents sent her a long letter full of worry and concern, hoping their daughter hadn't gone through a traumatic event that made her do such a reckless thing. She was told that she should stop hanging around the boys if they were pressuring her too much. They wanted to make sure she was using her conscience and following the rules.

Luna and Ginny met the trio in the Entrance Hall.

"Now what?" Ginny asked. "Personally, I was starting to get interested in this."

"Maybe you two should-"

"Harry!" A booming voice interrupted Ron.

"Oh no…" Harry groaned under his breath.

"I hear you've been getting yourself in trouble m'boy!" Professor Slughorn said as he approached. "Can I get you to come to a party of mine around noon? The Headmaster has informed me that you do not have a meeting. Madam Hooch has told me that today is reserved for Hufflepuff Quidditch practice. Miss Weasley, Miss Granger, I hope the two of you will grace us with your presence as well. Of course, Miss- I'm sorry, what was it again?"

"Lovegood, sir." Luna said politely while Ron rolled his eyes.

"Miss Lovegood is welcome to attend as well."

"I'm sorry, we got in trouble last night and my parents and her dad said we aren't allowed to party." Ginny said.

"Surely they do not have to be informed." Slughorn said with a wink.

"Sometimes I sleep talk." Luna said. "Especially if I've done something I shouldn't have."

"And if my Mum hears it from Mr. Lovegood, she'll get mad at me and my brother, Ron. More mad at Ron because he's supposed to be looking out for me like a good big brother…because he's my brother…Ron."

"Oh dear, I hope at least Mr. Potter and Miss Granger may attend?"

"Actually, we got in trouble last night." Harry said. "Ron, Hermione, and I are doing something for Hagrid. We were headed there now. Right, Ron?"

"Yes." Ron said loudly.

"Next time, maybe?" Slughorn asked, ignoring Ron.

"Maybe, just tell me the date." Harry said with a fake grin.

"Excellent, hope to see you later m'boy! Hopefully Miss Granger, Miss Weasley, and Miss Lovegood can come too."

The group collectively murmured. Slughorn beamed, taking that as a confirmation, and walked off.

"Five times…my name was said five times and he didn't even notice…I even said something!" Ron said. "What am I, chopped flobberworm?"

"Don't you mean chopped dragon liver?" Luna asked.

"No, because dragon liver is actually pretty cool. Flobberworms are not."

"Sorry Ron, but you know I don't want to go." Harry said.

"Yeah, but it would be nice to be invited…"

"Sorry, big brother, I tried." Ginny said.

"Oh well, let's move on." Luna said. "What shall we do?"

"We need to do research on how to-what?" Hermione looked offended at the groans.

"We already researched to find him, what else is there to know?" Ginny asked.

"Proper etiquette, how to dress, how to function in society, proper manners, speech, magic-"

"But we can teach him what we know…or what we learned from first and second year, he's twelve after all." Luna said.

"When I was twelve, I learned that diaries are evil and phoenix tears act faster than basilisk venom…oh and not to set pixies loose in a classroom." Harry said.

Hermione flushed. "Yes, but-"

"I learned how to fly to Hogwarts." Ron said, causing Hermione to blush deeper pink. "And that you make an attractive cat."

Luna and Ginny laughed.

"Good thing we had Professor Lupin in second year." Luna said. "He taught us very useful lessons."

"Hagrid taught us that it's sometimes good to judge a book by its cover." Harry said.

"That's our third year." Hermione said. "What else did we learn?"

"Well, first year, I learned that dragon bites are nasty." Ron said. "Oh, and I'm the chess master."

"I meant in lessons." Hermione said before Harry could input anything.

"Where page 394 is." Harry said.

Hermione whacked him. "Would you stop being cheeky and start being serious?"

"I can't, h-"

"One more word, Harry Potter and I swear I will-"

"What? Hex me in a soon to be crowded hall?"

"Hi Hagrid!" Ron said.

Hagrid approached them, his expression turned to a puzzled one when he saw Hermione glaring at Harry who was grinning at her.

"Don't ask." Ginny said. "Can we go look for Alexander now?"

"I was told to bring these three." Hagrid said. "But you two can help once we bring the kid in."

Ginny wanted to object, but Luna interrupted. "Okay, Professor." She said. "Let's go look for Nargles." She pulled Ginny along.

Hagrid shrugged and walked with the trio down to his hut. He retrieved his crossbow and adjusted it under his arm.

"That's a bit extreme." Hermione said.

"Wha' if a Death Eater came? Obviously I don't have me wand so I'll use this."

"Don't you have your umbrella that may or may not be concealing your wand?"

Hagrid nodded and patted one of his many pockets.

"Right, here we go."

"Hold on. I'm not going in that bloody forest!" Ron said.

"Oh yes you will."

"What makes you say that?" Ron asked as they exited the hut.

Harry grinned and whispered into Ron's ear.

Ron turned red. "You did NOT just say that."

"I did."

"HARRY POTTER YOU ARE DEAD!"

Harry ran into the forest with Ron hot on his trail.

"NO! Come back here!" Hagrid shouted.

"Those idiots are going to get themselves killed!"

Hagrid angrily stomped into the forest with Hermione trying to keep up with him.

"HARRY? RON?" Hagrid called. "Where are you? Hermione, I'd like help if you don't mind. Hermione?" He looked around, the bushy haired girl was nowhere in sight. "Galloping gargoyles, I've lost all three of them! HARRY, RON, AND HERMIONE WHERE ARE YOU?"

Hermione had heard a scuffling noise while trying to follow the half-giant's long strides. She approached the bushes where she thought the noise had come from. Her wand gripped firmly in her hand, she went through the bushes and found a trail of footsteps. She followed them until they stopped at a river.

"Harry bloody Potter where are you?" Ron's irritated voice rang out.

"Freeze!" Hermione hissed.

Ron stopped as he spotted Hermione with her hand held up.

"Alexander?" The girl said. "Are you around here? I'm sorry we scared you. We just want to be friends."

"AGH!"

Hermione swiveled around with her wand pointed at Ron. He stumbled to the ground, having been hit by a piece of pumpkin.

"What the-?"

"It came from the trees." Ron said, wiping the insides of the pumpkin off his head.

Hermione narrowly avoided a cream cake when it soared at her face.

"Hold on. We just want to talk." Hermione said.

A dark shadow leapt to a different tree. Another one jumped down to the ground.

"That was fun."

"Harry, you-"

"Shush, Ronald. Harry Potter, where have you been?"

"Having fun." Harry said. His hair was messier than ever with leaves and twigs in it. His robes were disheveled and dirt spattered. "Here, sniff my hand."

"What?" Hermione took a step backwards as Harry put his hand out.

"Why would she do that?" Ron said, approaching them.

"That's what he did." Harry whispered. "He sniffed my hand and then invited me to jump into a tree."

"O-kay…" Ron said.

Hermione shook her head and stepped back again.

"Hermione!" Ron shouted.

Hermione gasped and tried to reach for the boys, but she missed and fell into the river.

"Help!" She cried. Her robes tangled around her body, growing heavier and restricting her body movements.

Ron and Harry tore their robes off and chased her down the river. Ron jumped in as she was cast out into the lake.

Harry jumped in the lake, but he had lost sight of Hermione.

"Where'd she go?"

The boys held their breath and tried to find her in the murky water to no avail.

"Ouch." Harry said, rubbing his eyes. "I wish I had Gillyweed."

SPLASH!

"What the?" Ron said.

They looked to where the water had been disturbed. They went back under to see a dark shadow kicking up, dragging something with it.

"Hermione!" Ron gasped when he broke the surface.

The boys swam towards her when someone emerged from the water, dragging her up to the bank. Ron and Harry immediately checked her vital signs after taking off her tangled robe.

She coughed and blinked. "R-Ron?"

Ron chuckled weakly. "Please don't scare me like that again."

Hermione grinned.

"I'm sorry it's my fault." Harry said.

"No, it's mine. I wanted to go looking for something and I got us in trouble."

Ron helped her to Hagrid's hut while Harry followed the path back to their discarded robes. Fang had been let out and found Harry.

"Good boy, now go find Hagrid."

Fang barked and tore off into the trees.

Harry was makng his way back to the hut when a shadow caught his eye. Ron's robe slipped from his hand.

Harry's hand tightened on his wand, but loosened a little when he realized who it was.

"Hey, Alexander."

The wild boy came into the light. He had wild brown hair and blue eyes. He grinned at Harry.

"Thanks for saving Hermione. By the way, pumpkin clashes with Ron's hair."

The boy cocked his head.

"Do you want more of that food?"

Alexander perked up at the word and nodded vigorously.

"I can take you there. But first, we have to go to the giant man's house."

Alexander frowned.

"No, he's nice. He won't hurt you."

The boy gave a small smile He picked up Ron's robe and began to follow Harry.


	6. Enter the castle

**A/N: Alexander's sorting was supposed to happen in 1995, not 1993. He's currently twelve years old. The two boys mentioned later are not mine, I just gave them personalities and appearances, they were mentioned in book 4.**

Harry and Alexander approached the hut with the robes, Hermione's still soaking wet. Harry hung his and Hermione's robes on the fence and headed up to the door. Alexander flung Ron's robes on top of the other two and slowly followed Harry.

"It's warm in here." Harry said, opening the door.

The boy looked around and shivered. The smoke coming out of the chimney did look very inviting. He saw Harry smiling at him.

The smaller boy finally made up his mind and entered the hut. Hermione and Ron had taken their socks and shoes off and sat by the fire. Harry grinned and joined his friends.

Alexander stared at the fire as if in a trance. He walked towards it, not caring if he got a splinter from walking across a wooden cabin with bare feet.

The trance was broken when a loud voice echoed.

"Harry! Ron! Hermione!"

"Hagrid!" Hermione said, jumping to her feet. "Wait, Hagrid, you don't under-" She ran to the door, but scurried out of the giant's way before she was stepped on.

"Why did you do that?" Hagrid asked furiously. "What if you'd been caught or fallen down? I see you three are wet."

"I fell into the river and the boys were trying to get me." Hermione said.

"Yeh-"

"Alexander saved her." Ron said. "He's right-er-where'd he go?"

Harry looked around, "He can't have left!"

They spotted Fang, sniffing under Hagrid's bed. The boarhound barked and thump was heard followed by the bed shaking slightly.

"Fang!" Hagrid pulled the dog away.

"Hey, he's not going to hurt you." Harry said. He kneeled down and peeked under the bed. "Hi. My name's Harry. Want to be friends?"

Hagrid now sat at a large table. Hermione smiled near the fireplace. Fang had grown bored and started licking Ron's ears.

The shaking boy slowly emerged from under the bed and took in the sight. Giant Man didn't look angry; he actually had a very kind smile covered in curly beard. The dog wasn't mean, just curious. He seemed to like Orange haired boy and was calm. Black haired boy was next to him, but didn't seem threatening. Brown haired girl was giving him a smile. He returned the smile.

"I'm Harry."

He turned to the older boy with dark hair and opened his mouth, trying to copy the sound.

"Har-ry" Harry repeated.

"Ha-e." Alexander's voice was extremely hoarse as if he hadn't used it for ages.

"That's right, Harry."

"Ha-e."

"My name's Ron." The redhead said. "Ron."

"Rn?"

"Ron."

"Run?"

"Raw-n"

"Raw-n"

"Close enough."

He looked to Hermione.

"Hermione."

The younger boy stared at her with wide eyes.

"Her-my-oh-knee"

"Hermaohnonny"

"Her-my-oh-knee"

"Hermanie."

"Can you say Hermy?"

"Hermy?"

"That works. Hermy."

"Hermy." Alexander smiled, satisfied he got it right.

"This is Fang, he's a dog." Ron said, petting Fang.

"Fangdog?"

"Fang."

"Fang."

"This is Hagrid." Hermione said, gesturing to the man.

"Haggis?"

"Ha-grid."

"Ha-grd…Ha-gree…Hagger…Hagareed..."

"We'll work on that later." Ron said. "What's your name?"

"Nay?"

"Yes, who are you?" Hermione asked.

The boy looked confused.

"Are you Alexander Everett?"

"Do you think he forgot everything in four years?" Harry asked.

"I don't know, I mean eight years of knowledge…can it really be erased in half that time?" Hermione sighed.

"Alex."

They looked around, startled. The boy repeated it in a whisper-like tone. "Alex."

"Would you like some food?" Hermione asked.

Alex nodded eagerly.

"Alright, follow us."

He hesitated, watching as everyone stood up. Harry offered his hand. The younger boy took it and looked around. He followed them outside, it was then that the teens remembered that they weren't dry and it was cold out.

"Bloody-"

"Ron, language!"

Alex seemed put off by the arguing, but a quick glance at Harry told him that it was nothing to be concerned about. The young boy looked in awe at the castle before him. He never imagined entering the building for fear of what he might find. The great oak doors opened and a waft of smell came over them.

"It must be lunch time by now." Ron said. His stomach gave a rumble of agreement.

"Gee, who needs a clock when you have Ron's stomach?" Harry said.

"Go jump in a lake!"

"I did." Harry said proudly.

Professor McGonagall met them at the entrance hall. She waved her wand and the four children were dried off immediately.

Alex hid behind the teens immediately, not being used to the noises. The chattering of students came from the Great Hall as well as the wonderful smell.

"He needs to be wearing something." Professor McGonagall said.

They looked at Alex, realizing that all the small boy had was a pair of very old, very torn shorts.

Harry gave the boy his robes, helping him into them.

"Should we take him in there?" Hermione asked. "He might get shocked or-"

"Let's go to Professor Dumbledore's office."

The teens waved to Hagrid as they followed their Transfiguration Professor. Alex held onto Hermione's robes. Harry and Ron were behind Hermione, making sure Alex wouldn't suddenly run off on them.

They managed to make it to the entrance of Dumbledore's office without incident. A couple of students on their way to lunch had slowed down curiously, but Ron waved them off.

"You didn't have to threaten to take points." Hermione hissed.

"She was practically breathing on us!"

"Oh brother."

"No, I'm Ginny's brother."

"Ron."

"Sorry, Hermy."

Hermione was about to respond, but a hand on her arm made her stop. Alexander was gripping her arm and staring at the magical staircase as it rose to admit them.

"It's okay, it won't hurt you at all." Hermione said, trying to assure the young boy. It didn't help as the twelve year old looked around anxiously. The trio guided him up the stairs and into the office where Professor Dumbledore was waiting with a knowing smile on his face.

"Please do sit." He said. There were four chairs in front of his desk as well as a chair next to his own.

Professor McGonagall took the seat next to the headmaster while the teens sat. Alex refused to sit and kept holding onto Hermione's arm. He stared into the twinkling eyes of the headmaster, trying to see if the man was safe.

"I see you've found our young guest here."

"Yes, Professor." Harry said. "Alex, this is Professor Dumbledore."

The young boy tilted his head in confusion, but didn't respond.

Before they could go on, the door opened.

"Headmaster, I-"

"Severus, this is not the time."

Professor Snape looked at the people in the room and scowled. "Figures, Potter and his friends are in trouble."

Alex paled.

"What are you staring at?"

Alex jumped and fled the room, darting past Professor Snape before anyone could respond.

"Wait!" Hermione yelled.

Ron and Harry hurried after him.

"Professor that was Alexander!" Hermione said as she ran off.

"What are you-? Granger, get back here and explain to me exactly what you're doing! Granger!"

"Severus, we shall have our discussion later." Professor Dumbledore said. "I need you and Minerva to keep the students in the Great Hall."

…

He was running as fast as he could. Not remembering which way he came from, his feet pounded on the hard floor as he tried to find a way out. He shucked off the robes and ran up some stairs. He heard footsteps behind him and became frightened.

Panting, he tried to find his destination. He ran up and up until he ran out of stairs to find. Turning around the corridor, he crashed into someone.

"Watch it!"

He shook his head and jumped up. A pale, blond boy was brushing himself off as he got up.

"Why don't you watch where- Why aren't you wearing clothes? I'm a prefect and I can take points away for not wearing proper clothing…or any clothing…what are those rags?"

Alex bared his teeth and let out a growl.

"You're not an animal. Which House are you in?"

Alex stiffened with his fists up.

"You know, you're just asking for a good hexing." The older boy scowled.

The younger one let out a harsh bird cry which caused the older boy to cringe and shut his eyes.

Alex took the opportunity to dart past the blond boy and disappear around a corridor.

"FIFTY POINTS FROM WHICHEVER HOUSE YOU'RE IN!"

The boy ignored that, not knowing what it meant. He rushed by when a noise stopped him. He looked around and saw a fancy looking door. He opened it and found himself in the forest. His jaw dropped. He had only been thinking of trees and he got his wish.

He sighed happily as he climbed a tree.

…

"It's not funny, Malfoy! Where is he?" Harry scowled.

"You're not getting it out of me." Draco smirked. "Which house is he in anyway? It's against the rules to wander without clothes on."

"He had a robe on."

"Well, he wasn't wearing it when he rudely knocked me down." Draco huffed and went downstairs.

"Harry!"

Ron turned around, holding a robe. "Hermione found it on the third floor."

"Where could he possibly have gone?"

…

His peaceful rest was disturbed when the door opened. He shrunk in the shadows as a person came in, closing the door. A few minutes later, someone else came in.

He realized that the two people were not looking for him as they weren't shouting his name. He peeked around the tree and saw a boy sitting at the base of a slightly larger tree. He had his head in his arms and was joined by the second person. The second boy sat next to the first and began to pat the latter on the back consolingly.

The first boy sniffled and said something that didn't quite reach Alex's ears.

"No, don't think about that." The second boy said firmly, unaware that someone was listening in on them. "Malcolm, you are the best friend I've had in this place. If we made it two years being friends, we can take more. You're just more ambitious and sly than I am. Didn't you hear the hat? It didn't say you were evil, just that your personality traits matched your house."

"But everyone keeps telling me to stop being friends with you…"

"So? It's been two years and we still didn't listen to those jerks."

"B-but th-they hissed at me…"

"Who hissed at you?"

"W-when I was sitting down, I heard murmurs and the Weasley twins hissed at me…"

"You've said that. We've had this conversation before, Mal. Honestly, I don't care if you're a Slytherin, you were the first person to be nice to me on the train and offer conversation. Didn't you see me at the sorting? I was a wreck. I probably would have broken down or something if you hadn't been smiling at me and giving me courage."

"I wanted to join them so badly last year. I hated Umbridge!"

"I know."

Alex climbed down from the tree quietly and slowly edged his way over to them. He managed to hide behind the tree they were leaning on before they started looking around.

"Stewart, did you hear that?"

"Yeah." Both boys got up.

"Who's there?"

"Come out."

Alex gathered up courage and poked his head out.

The other two were startled but put their drawn wands away. One of them had dark brown hair and brown eyes. The other one had light blue-green eyes and dark blond hair. The brunette had a green patch on his robes with a snake on it while the other boy had a blue patch with a bird on it.

"It's not like we could have done anything." One of the boys commented.

"Hi." The blonde said. "My name's Stewart Ackerley." He said.

"I'm Malcolm Baddock." The other boy said, trying to look like he hadn't been crying.

Alex didn't answer.

"So, you like forests too?" Stewart said.

Alex nodded.

"I grew up near the woods." Malcolm said. "Where did you come from?"

"Maybe he's mute?" Stewart said. "Are you mute?"

"Alex." The wild boy said.

"Well, that answers that. Hi Alex!"

"Nay?"

"Nay? What does that mean?"

"Nay Alex, you nay?"

"Name?" Malcolm suggested. "Malcolm."

"My name is Stewart."

"Water." Alex said, pointing to Malcolm's face.

"Er…yeah, I was sad." Malcolm said, blushing. "But don't go around telling everyone that a stinkin' third year was crying."

"He looks like he could be the same age as us. How old are you?"

Alex tried to think. He had tried to remember exactly what age he was, but after a while it became hard to track without a calendar and he simply forgot. He shrugged his shoulders.

"Hey, want to be friends?" Stewart asked.

"Huh?"

Stewart offered a hand and a kind smile.

Alex looked at his own dirt covered hands and then back at the two boys.

"We don't bite." Malcolm said.

Alex held out his hand.

"This is how we shake hands." Stewart took Alex's hand and shook it. "Nice to meet you."

"Should we get out of here?" Malcolm asked. "Maybe help him get cleaned up? I wish we had a bathroom and some fresh clothes."

"I can get clothes." Stewart said. "Give me twenty minutes tops."

"I'm timing you."

Stewart grinned.

"Go!"

The blond boy took off like a bullet, startling Alex.

Malcolm laughed and turned to where a bathroom had just popped up. Alexander followed the boy curiously and found a large basin with a bar of soap. Alex grinned and jumped into the basin, splashing the contents everywhere.

"Very funny." Malcolm said. "Found something to scrub you with." He handed the dirt clad boy a sponge and the soap.

Alex sniffed it, then proceeded to put the soap in his mouth. Malcolm tugged it out and showed him how to scrub. Alex began movng the soap covered sponge back and forth until he gasped and smiled.

"Bath!" He said.

Malcolm looked at the boy inquisitively, but decided, not to bring anything up. He turned so that Alex could have privacy to wash himself. The sound of wet shorts hitting the ground was heard as the wild boy chanted the word over and over, scrubbing the years of dirt and grime off his body. He dunked his head inside and smothered his head in shampoo. He scrubbed and scratched, feeling the dirt lifting off and disappearing. When he was done, he found a towel and wrapped it around himself. He then gave Malcolm a very wet hug.

"Hey! Get dry first!"

Since he had been washed, his hair was no longer as dark as it had been. It receded past his chin and nearly to his shoulders and had a nice light brown color.

The door opened.

"How many minutes?" Malcolm asked.

Stewart was pale and panting when he entered the room with a change of clothes.

"What happened, mate?"

"Three Gryffindors are on their way up here."

"Really?"

"They noticed me running with the clothes and tried to ask me questions, but I ignored them…two of them are sixth year Prefects."

"Shoot." Malcolm said.

The two boys helped Alex get dressed and stepped back to admire their handiwork. Instead of the ratty old shorts, he was wearing a pair of jeans and plain black t-shirt.

"I don't know what size shoe he is so I grabbed mine." Stewart said.

Alex winced as he moved his feet.

"My feet are small." The blond admitted.

"Let's just get out of here."

"What?! But we can't just leave him alone!"

"We don't know what they want with him!"

"Our secret?"

"Our secret. Don't you trust us sly Slytherins?"

Stewart smiled.

"Alex, we'll be back in a little while okay?" Malcolm said. "I'll bring you bigger shoes." He said as Alex took off the shoes. The socks were a little short, but fit him reasonably well.

"Just stay here and hide, okay?"

Alex nodded.

…

The two boys looked around, making sure the coast was clear. They reassured their new friend that they'd return with food.

They rounded the corner when they ran into three sixteen year olds.

"Uh-oh." Stewart said.

"Don't say uh-oh!" Malcolm whispered. "Hey guys, how's it going?"

"Alright, what did you do to him?" Ron asked harshly.

"Him?" Malcolm pointed his thumb at his friend. "Nothing."

"Why are you carrying around a pair of shoes?" Harry asked.

"I was showing him my new shoes." Stewart said.

"We're looking for someone, have you seen a boy around here?" Hermione asked.

"Hermione, don't ask a Slytherin anything." Ron scowled. "They can't be trusted. Every witch or wizard who's been in Slytherin has ended up downright nasty or evil."

"Ron!" Hermione scolded. "Leave them alone, we just wanted to look for Alexander."

"I don't know, but if I did then why would I ask a bunch of Gryffindors who can't let their pride down for a few seconds to listen to anyone?"

Malcolm stomped off before anyone could respond.

"Bye!" Stewart squeaked, running after his friend.

…

His stomach rumbled as he remembered the promise of food. His door opened again and a scent of food wafted into the room.

"Hello?" A dreamy voice said. "Hermione, I think I've found him."

He watched from the tree as a blond girl entered with four other people.

"Hermanie!" Alex said, he jumped from the tree and ran to hug the bushy haired girl.

"Alex, where have you been?" She held his shoulders as she tried to get a good look at him. "Are you hurt? Were you here this entire time?"

Alex nodded.

"Don't scare us like that." She brought him into a hug. "I was scared that something might have happened to you."

"Let him breathe, Hermione." Harry said.

Alex took the food that Luna offered him.

"Where did those clothes come from?" Ginny asked.

Alex looked at her and backed up slightly, hugging a chicken leg.

"I may be tough, but I don't bite."

"Weren't those Slytherins here?" Ron asked.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "One of them was a Ravenclaw, and you really shouldn't judge!"

…

Stewart and Malcolm were unaware that the Gryffindor Trio, plus Luna and Ginny, had actually found out where their new friend was hiding.

The two boys approached the Room of Requirement after dinner with armfuls of food that Malcolm had nicked from the kitchen. It took most of Malcolm's upper body strength to push the door open as his hands were occupied. Stewart was keeping lookout.

They heard rustling from in the room, but didn't think anything of it. Once Malcolm had edged the door wide enough, he whistled and Stewart zipped into the room. Malcolm slipped in after his friend and nudged the door closed.

"Alex? We brought food!" Stewart said.

"Hang on." Malcolm said. "We're not alone."

Both boys dropped the food and drew their wands immediately. Five shadows came out of the trees with their wands pointed at them.


	7. Meet new friends

Hermione and Luna lowered their wands, but Ginny and the boys kept them up.

"What are you two doing here?" Ron asked harshly.

"Ron, they're kids." Hermione said.

Alex jumped down from a tree and grinned at the two boys.

"Hey Alex!"

"Shoe-er"

"Yeah, Stewart! Hey, Malcolm, he remembered me!"

Malcolm nodded, not taking his eyes off the older teens.

Stewart put his wand in his robes. He nudged Malcolm who rolled his eyes and followed suit.

"Alright, we're unarmed. You can stop pointing those at us." Malcolm said.

"Please." Stewart added.

"Hello, Stewart. How are you?" Luna asked.

"Hi Luna, I'm doing alright, how about yourself?"

"Reasonably well, what brings you here?"

"I think we'd all like to know that." Harry said. He lowered his wand, but kept an eye on Malcolm. Ginny put her wand away, but Ron had his up and pointed at the Slytherin.

"I barely know enough magic to give you a nosebleed." Malcolm said dryly. "And even if I wanted to, I wouldn't. If you don't mind, I would appreciate if you would honor the silent agreement of both parties to put away our wands."

"Please." Stewart added.

Everyone else had put their wands away. Ron reluctantly lowered it, but kept it out and firmly gripped in his hand as if daring the younger boy to try anything.

Stewart began to explain how the two of them were just tired of the surrounding noise and decided to get away. He said that since the two of them liked forests, they wanted to be surrounded by peaceful trees. The two of them had been friends since they met on the train, sharing an abundance of sweets together and stories about their childhoods. They were then separated by Houses and ever since, Malcolm had been belittled by those in other houses.

This year, especially, was difficult for the boy in Slytherin. The only other people in his year who didn't think him a junior Death Eater in training were Dennis Creevey and a Hufflepuff girl named Laura Madley. Someone had actually called Malcolm a Death Eater. He didn't even know what that meant until he approached the Headmaster for the fifth time in one term and received a simple answer with the assurance that he wasn't one and that he could be anything he set his mind to.

That didn't stop the mocking, jeering, or put downs. Every time he tried to smile or make a friend, they turned him away. He tried offering compliments, but they always had snarky responses that cut deeply.

Malcolm turned pink during Stewart's explanation. It had started turning into a story about him. He cleared his throat to bring it back to the wild boy.

"Sorry." Stewart said sheepishly. "Alex approached us and we made friends. We helped him get a bath and I donated my clothes. He's the same size as me except for shoes. He needs about a size and a half bigger than mine and one size up from Malcolm's."

"Why do you admit I have small feet?"

"Sorry."

"Thank you for taking care of him." Hermione said. "Harry, maybe we can invite Dennis and Laura to visit him. I mean, he does need to be around kids his own age. These guys are third years and he's supposed to be a second year."

Alex began scratching Ron's head, looking for something. Ginny and Luna giggled.

"Stop it!" Ron said, swatting him away.

Alex smacked Ron back with surprising strength, knocking the redhead onto the floor.

The others laughed.

"I still say we don't trust a Slytherin." Ron grumbled.

"What about inter-house unity?" Hermione said. "I personally think we can help loads of people if we just think of them as people not Houses."

"What?" Ron sat up and stared at the bushy haired girl.

"She means don't judge them by where they are sorted." Luna explained. "We should learn about who they are as people."

"I met Malfoy before sorting and I thought he was a git." Harry said. "Ron, what if I had been a Slytherin? Would you still have been my friend?"

Ron's ears turned red. "Erm…of course, Harry."

"You hesitated." Luna commented.

Ron glared at her.

"Stewart and I promised to keep our friendship no matter what house we ended up in." Malcolm said. "He's respected that promise for over a year now."

"Yeah, well I bet you just have tons of support." Ron grumbled. Alex noticed Malcolm's offended expression and smacked Ron again. "OUCH! Stop it!" Alex looked quite pleased.

"Alex, no." Ginny said firmly. "We don't hit."

Alex pouted.

"She's right." Stewart said. "Hitting is not nice."

"So are we accepting these two into our group?" Luna asked.

"Let's take a vote." Harry said. "Who wants Stewart and Malcolm in the group?" He raised his hand.

Alex happily raised both arms in the air and grinned at Ron. Ginny, Hermione, and Luna raised their hands as well.

A minute later, Ron raised his hand. He had given in to the harsh stares of his little sister and Hermione.

...

When bumping into Neville on their way out, it seemed a bit rude not to invite him. He was glad to have the chance to help someone out. Everyone agreed that he could teach Alex about Herbology.

They decided to let Colin, Dennis, and Laura into the group as well. The Creevey brothers were happy to oblige. Laura Madley was a bit more difficult to find. Apparently, the girl had more hiding places than Harry could think of in the castle. He finally resorted to taking out the Marauder's Map, away from the others, and searching the hundreds of dots.

He tried asking the map to locate Laura, it responded by showing a single yellow dot among the sea of black dots. He humored himself for a moment, wondering what would happen if he had just said her first name. He might have gotten more than one dot.

She was currently on the fourth floor, the dot wasn't moving so Harry assumed she might be sitting. People seemed to be moving past her, none of the dots stopped by hers. He found that odd and decided to look for her with Luna, Ginny, and Stewart.

Ron, Neville, Colin, and Dennis stayed in the Room of Requirement with Alex while Hermione and Malcolm went to notify Professor Dumbledore of the current progress. The Headmaster was surprised that Alex was already comfortable with the teens. Hermione notified him that Alex seemed more attached to her, Harry, and Malcolm. Alex was still nervous being around the Weasleys, Creeveys and Stewart. She wasn't sure about Neville since she missed the introductions.

Luna was talking animatedly to Stewart about Nargles while Harry hoped Laura hadn't moved since he last checked the map. He snuck a look at it when Luna and Stewart were examining a classroom on the fourth floor. The Hufflepuff girl hadn't moved from her spot, but they couldn't find her. Stewart mentioned that she wasn't that hard to notice when you did see her. She always had an odd hat on or very colorful clothing. Luna pointed out that the girl sounded a lot like her. Stewart didn't know whether to agree or not because he didn't know Luna that well.

They entered an area near classrooms where Harry had seen the dot. There were a few bookcases lined up near the walls and a suit of armor close by. There was also a potted plant between the bookcases.

Luna pointed out a classroom that hadn't been used in years near the end of the hall.

They entered, but discovered no one was in there. Stewart turned around and gasped loudly.

The other two drew their wands, looking around for what he had seen. A young girl was seated between the bookcase and the wall, reading a book. Only her lower legs and her feet were visible. The plant had been pushed away from the wall and apparently the girl fit.

The older teens put away their wands and approached the girl. She had a pair of headphones on and a hat on top of that. The hat was made of straw and had a string of beads around it. There was also a pair of goggles around the hat and a couple of feathers had been stuck at the top. Her brown hair was tied in a loose ponytail. She wore a pair of overalls and what looked like ballet shoes.

She looked up from what looked like a book of comic strips. She saw Stewart move his mouth and gave him a quizzical look. She took off the hat to remove her headphones, hanging them around her neck while she replaced the hat. The headphones didn't have any wire on it, not that it would have worked anyway.

"Hello." Stewart said. "How're you doing?"

"Are you Laura Madley?" Harry asked.

The girl nodded slowly. She closed her book and stood up. Her eyes were a dark blue. She had a strange air about her that was not dreamy like Luna, but very cautious and somewhat lonely. She had a necklace with a stegosaurus on it.

"Hi, my name is Harry. This is Luna, and Stewart."

Laura nodded again.

"Can you speak?"

"Yes." The girl said in a low whisper.

"We were hoping for your help with something." Harry said. "Would you be okay working with a group?"

"I prefer individual projects."

"Well, this is about helping a boy become a student." Stewart said. "Wait…that came out wrong…"

"Harry found a wild boy living in the forest." Luna said.

Laura moved her gaze to her. "I read the article." She said.

"It's true. He's in the castle now and we're going to help him."

"How many?"

"I believe eleven people will be in the Room of Requirement in total. Twelve if you want to come."

Laura pondered this. "Who?"

"Harry's friends, Hermione and Ron." Luna said.

"And Neville Longbottom, Ginny Weasley, Colin and Dennis Creevey, Luna, me, Stewart, and Malcolm Baddock."

Laura smiled slightly. "He's nice." She said. "Who's the eleventh person?"

"Alexander Everett." Luna said.

"The boy from the forest." Harry added.

"Why ask me?" Laura asked.

"Because he's a year younger than you and we were hoping for people who were closer in age to him and we found you three." Harry said.

"You, Malcolm, and Stewart are in the same year." Luna said. "What do you think?"

"Positively mad." Laura said with a smile. "Alright."

"Thanks!" Stewart said. "Why do you hide here?"

Laura didn't answer. Stewart realized he must have hit a sore spot and didn't ask any more questions. They brought her up to the Room of Requirement and entered to find Ron trying to avoid having things thrown at him.

"I was kidding!" He complained. He looked around and saw Harry. "HELP ME!" He shouted, rushing towards his best friend. Luna scooted the younger kids out of the way.

"Ronald Weasley!" Hermione yelled. "You don't just SAY that to people!"

She held Ginny's arm down. The younger redhead was glaring at her brother with her wand in hand. Neville and the Creevey brothers shook their heads. Neville had managed to get Alex to stop throwing things. The wild boy jumped into a tree.

"What happened in here?" Harry asked.

"Malcolm and I just got back from Professor Dumbledore's office when this idiot-" Hermione jabbed her thumb towards Ron. "-started talking about Malcolm and clearly insulted him."

"I'm fine." Malcolm said, half hidden behind a tree. "You should be concerned about Alex. He doesn't want to keep his clothes on."

As if to prove this, a shirt came down on Malcolm's head.

"Alex, no! Please keep that on!" Hermione said. "We don't walk around half naked."

Alex seemed to take this as 'why not fully naked?' and stripped his bottoms. He stood proudly before them.

"Ah, my eyes!" Ron said.

Ginny and Hermione looked away in disgust. Colin slapped his hands over Dennis's eyes. Neville did the same with Malcolm. Harry put a hand over Stewart's eyes.

"Put it back on!" Ron complained.

Luna walked over to a pair of boxers and held them up.

"At least put these on, please." She said.

Alex pouted, but jumped down and took the boxers from Luna. He pulled them up and grinned.

"Thank you." Luna said.

"HIYA!" He kicked the air, barely missing Malcolm.

"Alex!" Hermione said exasperatedly.

The others deemed it safe to look and waited for someone to say something.

"Alright, this is Laura and she'll be joining us. Laura-hey, where'd she go?" Harry looked around, but the girl was nowhere to be seen.

"I didn't see her leave." Neville said.

"Laura?"

"Laura? Where are you?"

"Hey, are you still here?"

Luna, Harry, and Stewart waited for an answer, but it didn't come.

"Oh great, you scared her off!" Ginny said, glaring accusingly at Ron.

"Wh-? What did I do?!" Ron asked.

Ginny rolled her eyes. The group searched for Laura. The room certainly looked like a genuine forest. They pushed through bushes, hoping to find her.

Alex seemed to find the search quite fascinating, not that he knew what they were looking for. He ran through the room as if it was really the forest, cheering loudly.

Alexander stopped being able to hear the group as he went deeper into the room. He looked around.

"Ha-e?" He called. "Raw-n? Hermanienie?"

He saw something shining from a bush. He pounced at it and ended up tumbling through a bush and into a small clearing surrounded by high bushes. He growled at the bush, but the shining thing distracted him. It was a pair of gray headphones. He froze as he realized the headphones were on a person. Someone he hadn't been introduced to yet.

He sniffed the air as if attempting to detect danger. He scratched his head and proceeded. Slowly, he approached the girl, crawling on all fours. The girl seemed immersed in a book. He growled slightly. She raised an eyebrow as she glanced at him, and returned to her book. He growled louder and pounced at her.

She backed away, startled, but he managed to snatch the book. He eyed her warily as he held the book to his chest. The girl had a slightly put out expression, but remained silent. He looked through the book, holding it upside down. He put it right side up and stared at the pictures.

Something stirred in his head. Why did this seem familiar? There was a human child and an orange tiger. He put his hands over the still pictures. He had become scared the previous day by seeing a moving portrait, but these characters were frozen in the pages. He closed it and shook it…nothing happened. He sniffed it and then put out his tongue to lick it. It was swiped from his hands before his tongue could touch it.

He blinked slowly, and then stared at the girl who clutched it in her hands. She stood over him with a blank expression, and then offered a hand. He took it and stood up. He put his hand out for the book, but she wouldn't give it to him.

"Laura?" Hermione's voice got closer.

"Hermanie!" Alex said happily. He dragged his new friend through the bush to see Hermione and Neville with relieved expressions.

"Guys! They're over here!" Neville called.

Laura remained silent.

"Hermanie!" Alex pointed to the book. "Alex?"

"That's not yours, you can't have it." Hermione said. "Laura, are you alright?"

Laura nodded. She gave Alex the same look she'd given Stewart earlier. Alex was still holding her wrist, but he either hadn't noticed or didn't care. She tried to tug her wrist away, but the boy didn't let go.

"Hermanie?"

"Laura." Hermione said. "Her name is Laura."

"I'm Neville!" Neville said.

"Nell? Lu-a?"

The group gathered again, then Alex finally let go of Laura. They all introduced themselves while Alex tried to get their names.

"Harry."

"Ha-e."

"Ron."

"Raw-n"

"Hermione."

"Hermanie."

"Neville."

"Nell."

"Ginny."

"Inny."

"Luna"

"Lu-a"

"Colin."

"Colon."

Colin turned pink. "N-no. Colin. Call-in."

"Colon…Coleen…Cole-"

"Cole's fine for now." Colin said before the boy could continue.

"I'm Dennis."

"Denny…Den-knees…Dennis."

"Stewart."

"Shoe-er"

"Malcolm."

"Mal-um"

"Laura."

"Lu-a"

Hermione suddenly gasped loudly, causing the older teens to begin drawing their wands.

"No, sorry!" She said as Ron turned his wand on Malcolm. "Ron, stop that."

Ron avoided eye contact with the Slytherin, the latter doing the same. The others put their wands away.

"I just realized that Luna and Laura are both 'Lu-a' to him so we have to try to distinguish them." Hermione explained. "Alex, this is Laura. Lo-ra."

"Lo-ah?"

"Laura, is that acceptable?" Ginny asked.

Laura nodded.

"Yes, she's Laura, I'm Luna." Luna said.

Alex looked at Laura. "Lo-a" Then he turned to Luna happily. "Lu-a!"

Luna smiled. "This is quite fascinating." She said softly.

The group was in silence except for a slight scuffle when Alexander tried to search Ron's hair for bugs.

"What are you reading?" Colin asked, trying to break the ice. He smiled at Laura.

She flashed the title.

"Wow! I haven't seen that in ages!" Dennis said.

"Me neither." Hermione said.

"Pretty cool!" Colin agreed.

"What's so fascinating?" Ron asked, looking at the book. "Is it a moving picture book?"

Laura shook her said.

"It's a comic strip book." Dennis said.

Ron snickered. "Gee, never knew you were into stripping, Hermione."

Hermione turned pink and slapped him. "Not that kind of strip!"

"It's basically like a comic book." Ginny said. "Dad was curious about Muggle newspaper strips for a while, remember? I saw this when- nothing." She flushed and didn't continue.

"What?" Ron asked, alarmed.

"Since I broke into the shed and used your brooms when you weren't paying attention. Mum and Dad let me ride the brooms once you went to school."

Ron sighed. "I suppose it's revenge against your brothers, isn't it?"

"Aren't I sweet?" Ginny batted her eyes.

"What's the comic about?" Neville asked.

"It's about a boy named Calvin and his tiger, Hobbes." Colin said. "I used to call Dennis 'Calvin' because he was a troublemaker for a while."

Dennis grinned. "And I had a stuffed tiger."

"What happened to it?" Stewart asked

"Colin ate it."

Colin stifled a snicker. "Mate, I told you what really happened six months later."

Dennis blinked. "Oh, I forgot…"

"We lost it in the zoo when Mum and Dad freaked out."

"Why did they freak out again?"

"Because a huge snake was escaping and they didn't want their nine and seven year olds being crushed by a huge Burmese python."

"I thought it was a boa constrictor."

"Whatever! It was huge, potentially dangerous, and escaping. They scooped us up so fast, I've never seen dad run so fast."

It was Harry's turn to become pink. If Colin had been around the age of nine, he had been ten…which meant…

"Hey…" Ron said.

Harry flashed Ron a dangerous look, but he didn't see it.

"Didn't you say you set a snake on your cousin once?"

Harry's face turned five more shades of pink and into a fine red.

The Creevey brothers laughed.

"You set a snake on your cousin?" Malcolm said. "You couldn't find more subtle ways of communicating? Maybe something like 'I don't particularly like you'"

"He elbowed me to the ground!" Harry tried to defend himself. "And he's a pig so…he deserved it! It didn't hurt anybody."

"Well, as long as he got the message." Malcolm said with a huge grin.

"So you owe me a new tiger." Dennis said, snickering.

"It's not funny!" Hermione scolded. "Someone could seriously have been hurt!"

"Don't be a killjoy, Hermione!" Ron said.

"Don't worry Hermione; I was in plenty of trouble." Harry said.

"What happened? Were you forced to do lines? 'I will talk to people instead of setting pythons on them'. Or did you have dish duty for a month?" Colin said.

"Does it matter?" Harry asked. "If you must know I was grounded until summer holidays started."

"Bummer." Stewart said.

"Hey, at least he didn't have to spend the entire summer stuck inside." Malcolm said. "I had to spend nearly the whole vacation when I was six because I got really sick and then my mum did. She didn't want to spread anything so we couldn't leave until she was absolutely certain that we weren't contagious."

"Wow. So your dad did all the shopping and everythi-OUCH!" Ginny twisted around too look at Alex. He had been trying to pick bugs out of her hair.

"Alex, we don't do that." Neville said.

"The answer to your question, Ginny, was yes." Malcolm said quickly. "So, how do we start teaching him? And are we going to be using this room for the rest of the year?"

"We can start teaching him how to properly interact with people and how to speak." Hermione said.

"Let's do it." Harry said.

Alex blinked in confusion as they all stared at him.

**A/N: The group consists of: Harry, Ron, Hermione, Neville, Ginny, Luna, Colin, Dennis, Malcolm, Stewart, Laura, and Alexander of course! I do not own any of these people except for Alexander Everett. I just gave personalities and backgrounds to Malcolm, Stewart, and Laura. I also made up that the Creevey family was at the Zoo at the time of the snake incident (first book). They could have been for all we know…**

**Since probably not many people read my profile, I will explain my summer disappearance: My computer broke. It went all crazy and decided not to work when I was trying to write. I couldn't access my computer until mid-August. I was also busy and could not explain it to you because the end of summer was just very busy.**

**Currently, I am studying for my midterm but had time to send these out. Yes, it takes forever to update and I'm sorry. I do want to continue these stories so thank you for being patient with me.**

**Not sure that this story is doing so well though. Any suggestions on how to improve? If not, I'll try to restrict the chapter numbers and do time skips. I don't want to leave anyone hanging though.**


	8. Speak for the underdogs

For the next two weeks, Draco Malfoy found himself unable to access the Room of Requirement. He began to grow nervous as time went on. Soon enough, a month had passed and he wasn't sure what was going on.

The group had named themselves Forest Children and secretly conducted lookouts to make sure no one was coming. Alexander Everett had lived in the room for a month now. The room had begun to change slightly as he learned.

The first week was simple enough, teaching him about the Wizarding world and reminding him of the things he might already know such as basic rules and behaviors. The second week didn't go so well when they tried to introduce Alex to mannerisms. He constantly smacked Ron or started stripping and running around. The third week went better, but Alex still continued to be slightly fearful when it came to magic. It was a new concept, Hermione had explained, and they just had to be patient with him.

By the end of the fourth week, the group had grown closer. They also didn't have time for literally anything else but Alex. They denied Slug Club parties and Ron had snuck off to the Room of Requirement after winning the Quidditch match. Lavender had tried to talk to Ron, but Dennis had interrupted them to ask if they should bring some food to the boy in the Room of Requirement.

Laura had begun to talk to the group more often and smiled. She got along well with everyone, but Ron viewed her as a smaller version of Luna and treated Laura the same as Luna.

Alex was beginning to grasp concepts better and had most of their names down pat. The only ones he was having trouble with were Hermione, Ginny, Colin, Stewart, and Malcolm. He called them: Hermanie, Jenny, Colon, Sewert, and Mack'm.

They hadn't been questioned until Professor Snape, having been notified of the room's closure by Draco Malfoy, decided to do some investigating.

Lavender seemed to be trying to gain a relationship with Ron, but the redhead had been dragged off by either the Creevey brothers or Harry and Hermione to go to the Room of Requirement. In turn, Cormac McLaggen didn't get the chance to chat, aka flirt, with Hermione.

Harry still had meetings with Dumbledore and asked if they could keep using the room. Professor Dumbledore said yes, but Harry didn't tell him that Draco might have been using the room. Harry didn't care though; if he was sabotaging a potentially dangerous plan by Malfoy then he was happy.

The group took turns with one or two of them sleeping in the room every night to keep Alex company. Malcolm volunteered for most of these 'sleepovers' as Luna called it.

Since they had all grown closer, they realized that there were shared classes they didn't think about before. Colin had classes with Ginny and Luna, but often kept to himself or chatted with another student. Dennis, Malcolm, Stewart, and Laura had the same Potions class together as well as classes where two houses were placed in the same classes.

It was nearly the Christmas holidays and Draco hadn't been able to get inside the room to make any progress and he was severely annoyed.

Severus Snape was informed by a Slytherin student that Malcolm had been missing several nights and avoided the common room. The Head of Slytherin House told the boy to come to his office one day after lessons.

Dennis and Stewart wanted to argue, but Laura shook her head. They followed her outside the classroom and into the Entrance Hall where they ran into Luna, Ginny, and Colin who had just finished Herbology. They were followed shortly by Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Neville who came from Care of Magical Creatures class.

The three younger students explained what was going on. Hermione said that all they could do was hope that Professor Snape didn't force the truth out of Malcolm.

…

"Have a seat."

The Potions Master's tone was cold and uninviting. He sat at his desk as the boy sat in the chair across from him.

"Good afternoon, Professor." Malcolm said, trying to keep his voice casual and polite. His face showed no sign of fear, but a funny feeling started picking at the back of his brain.

"Mr. Baddock, where have you been?"

Malcolm looked stunned. "Me? I am positive I have attended all my lessons, including yours sir. I do not believe I have ever ditched a class or missed a meal time."

"That is not what I meant, Mr. Baddock."

"I'm sorry sir; I don't think I understand your question."

"Your fellow Slytherins have reported you missing from the dormitory. You seem to skip three or four nights a week…care to explain?"

"Perhaps they don't see me come in late. My roommates go to sleep at eleven at the latest. I like to hang out in the common room until half past eleven. I'm quiet as a mouse." Malcolm said. It was true that he didn't want to go to bed at the same time as the others. "I'm also an early riser, sir. I always have been that way, even on weekends."

"The Prefects perform a sweep of the common room every night." Professor Snape said.

"I have a couple of really good hiding spots in the common room that the Prefects don't even see." That was more or less truthful. Technically, there was one spot that was overlooked often.

Professor Snape stared at the boy, trying to see what was going on. "Your housemates tell me that you avoid the common room and them. Why do you not interact with your housemates?"

Malcolm's jaw nearly dropped. Since when had Professor Snape cared if his students interacted with each other? He certainly hadn't said anything the first two years Malcolm had been a student.

"I don't get along with them." Malcolm finally said. "They find me…different…and they shunned me so I forgot them."

"You have been seen hanging around a Gryffindor student by the name of Dennis Creevey." Professor Snape said.

"Stewart Ackerley of Ravenclaw and I have decided to work on inter-house unity." Malcolm responded. "We have made friends with Laura Madley of Hufflepuff as well as Dennis Creevey of Gryffindor. The four of us have become good friends."

"Why do you care for unity?"

"Professor, my I answer that with a question?"

Professor Snape looked taken aback, but nodded slightly.

"Why do you care for what I do? Do you care for your students?"

"Are you suggesting I do not pay attention to the welfare of my students?" The Potions teacher raised an eyebrow.

"Not at all, sir." Malcolm said. "But you do not pay attention to the bullies and the bullied. The first reaction I got when being sorted was hissing by the Weasley twins. I was suddenly shunned by three-fourths of the school as soon as the name of one of the founders slipped out of the hat's ripped mouth. Stewart and I made friends on the train and if we hadn't, I am quite sure I'd be alone right now. I felt disgusted by my housemates who talked nothing of blood purity and, pardon my language, Mudbloods being eradicated. I tried to be kind to other houses only to be called a junior Death Eater and constantly be ignored or put down. The only one apart from Stewart who actually looks at me kindly is Laura Madley. The worst part was that I didn't even get to escape the world at home. My father left once he found out what house I was in. My mother tried explaining that I was just ambitious and I had traits that were valued in that house, not that it meant evil. But that's not what he interpreted it as. I had to go home to my mother trying to cover up the sadness every morning. I still hear it in her voice though. But I'm not done; I still have to answer your questions."

Professor Snape's expression was unreadable, but he did not respond and Malcolm took that as a cue to continue. He was already in deep enough.

"While everyone pays attention to what the Boy-Who-Lived and his friends are doing, the younger ones get ignored. I am not only speaking for myself, but for all the shunned and ignored. Neville Longbottom, Luna Lovegood, Laura Madley, Stewart Ackerley, Dennis Creevey, possibly a hundred others who didn't or still don't get their voices heard. Maybe Neville and Luna will, but the rest of us are only small fish in this mad world. To answer your question, unity may be the only way us smaller ones have of making ourselves heard. It may be the only way for the Slytherins like me, who don't even want part in whatever will come, to be able to break free and associate where we are wanted. Where have I been? I've been trying to find myself. I've been trying to help a good cause whether anyone likes it or not."

He paused at Professor Snape's inhale, but continued when the Professor did not respond.

"I am not suggesting you don't pay attention to the welfare of your students, I am suggesting that you don't see what divides us. I'm not just saying rivalry, I'm saying within the houses. Luna is rejected in her own House because the other students view her as odd. The Hufflepuffs avoid Laura because she likes to get away from the magical world every so often and read comics. Stewart is smart, but shy. The Ravenclaws don't listen to him though because he has a point of view that no one wants to listen to. The kind that knows what the real world is like. He's Muggleborn, orphaned at the age of three while on a vacation to America, put through nine different foster homes until his elderly aunt finally caught wind of what happened and shipped him back to England. So far, he's lived with her until she died a year ago and then he lived with a cousin who already has a family and didn't even know about him until he was placed in the house. He's not treated badly at all, but he still feels like he can't talk to anybody. And that's how I feel. So, go ahead. At this point I don't care if you take fifty points from me; I just wanted you to hear this. I wanted you to hear what the underdogs have to say. "

Before the teacher could respond, there was a knock at the door. It was thrown open by Draco Malfoy.

"Professor, I've got to speak to you." He demanded.

"Excuse me; I believe I was in a conference with the Potions Master." Malcolm said.

"I don't know who you are, but shut up!" Draco said. "I am obviously more important than you."

"Allow me to introduce myself. I'm the underdog." Malcolm smirked.

"That is enough." Professor Snape said. "Mr. Malfoy, I shall deal with you in a moment, please wait outside."

Draco huffed and stormed out of the room.

Malcolm awaited his fate with bated breath.

"Mr. Baddock, I shall not take points from you." Professor Snape said. "I shall process the information you have given me and this will be taken up with the Headmaster."

"Really?" Malcolm asked. "I've never spoken with the Headmaster before."

"Please leave my office."

"Yes sir…Sir?" He paused at the door. "Thank you for listening."

He left, smirking at Malfoy as he went. Draco scowled at the younger boy.

…

The group was very anxious now; Malcolm had been in there a long time. Neville and Colin had gone to the room to make sure Alexander didn't get himself in trouble.

"Look!" Dennis said.

Malcolm came out of the Dungeons with a satisfied smirk.

"What happened?" Harry asked urgently.

"Did he use Veritaserum?" Hermione said. "If he did, it's illegal to use on a student and should be reported."

Malcolm shook his head.

"He didn't make you spill, did he?" Ginny asked.

"I told him what I wanted him to hear." Malcolm said.

"You what?!" Ron yelped, his ears turning red.

Malcolm ignored the redhead and looked at his Ravenclaw friend. "I told him." He said apologetically.

Stewart looked confused for a moment before he understood.

"WHAT?!" Ron shouted. "How could you? I knew it! Traitor Slytherin, you couldn't be trusted!"

Malcolm glared furiously at Ron. "Shut it and listen, Weasley. I said I told him what I wanted him to hear. I told him that the school would much rather listen to the adventures of the Boy-Who-Lived and his friends than the underdogs who don't have a chance unless their voices are heard. No offense, Harry." He added.

"Er, none taken…I think." Harry said.

Malcolm stormed off. Luna decided to go after him with Dennis and Laura following him.

"Ronald, that was completely uncalled for!" Hermione scolded.

"He said he told. What was I supposed to take that as?" Ron grumbled.

"He was obviously looking at Stewart so that meant he said something about Stewart." Ginny said. "Is that true?"

Stewart nodded. "He told Professor Snape about my background." He said. "He wouldn't have made eye contact with anyone if he told about what we were doing. I know him, he wouldn't tell because Alex is a friend to him."

Ron looked properly shamed. "Blimey…now I feel like fool of the year."

"Just stop jumping to conclusions." Ginny said.

"Right..."

"Can you be friends with him now?" Harry asked. "Even I trust him."

"Alright, fine." Ron said.

…

True to his word, Ron started to be nicer towards Malcolm. The younger boy was wary, but accepted this. The others already accepted Malcolm early on and spoke to him like they would each other.

Malcolm told the others exactly what he told Snape, including his and Stewart's stories.

A week before the winter holidays found the group making good progress. They were going to bring him to Dumbledore to see if he could get memories from the youngest boy.

"Run…"

The group looked at Alex.

"Are you talking to me?" Ron asked.

Alex shook his head. His eyes were wide and staring down at his feet.

"Mum…Dad…"

"Is he remembering things?" Neville asked.

Harry shrugged.

"It's possible." Hermione said. "Alex, do you remember your mum?"

Memories…they were tiny fragments…but he saw…some things…Familiar…things looked too familiar to not be sure…he knew what they were…but why…why now?

They left the room in small groups so they wouldn't attract attention. Harry thought about having someone wait in the Room of Requirement, but it was unnecessary. Draco seemed to have abandoned hope of being able to use the room again.

They all gathered in Dumbledore's office with Alexander. Alex stared at the man's beard.

"Hello, Alexander."

"Hermanie?"

"It's okay." Hermione said. "Professor Dumbledore is going to help you. We're going to get your memories back."

"I'm going to see if the memories are hiding and I'll show your friends, alright?" Dumbledore said.

Alex flinched at the wand, but Professor Dumbledore didn't hurt him. The boy nodded and winced as he felt a tugging at the back of his head. A string of silvery memory was eventually taken out of his head. He blinked at it and they watched as the Headmaster put the memory inside the Pensieve.

The boy stared at the bowl in wonder and a little fear.

"Are we all allowed to go in at once?" Harry asked.

"Certainly, Engorgio." The Headmaster made the bowl larger so they could all put their faces in.

Alex clutched Hermione's sleeve.

"It's your memories." Hermione said. "All of us are going to see this. We're here and we're not leaving."

"Don't worry; all of us will be right here." Laura said.

"And we'll be there when we're done." Luna said.

"We're not leaving, mate." Ron said.

"We're in this together." Ginny said.

"Okay?" Alex asked.

"I can't promise that you'll be okay." Stewart said.

"You might be sad, but you'll be safe." Neville said.

Colin nodded. "You are going to see your mum and dad in this." He said.

"The memories might be painful." Dennis said.

"But we can promise you'll be safe from harm." Malcolm said.

"You have us, we're your friends and we're not letting go of you so easily." Harry said.

Alex looked at each of their faces, they gave him reassuring looks.

He took a deep breath and they all plunged into the enlarged Pensieve.


	9. Remember me

They landed in a mountain range. They saw the tip of one of the Hogwarts towers in the distance.

"We're almost there."

They turned to see a man helping a woman up the hill. A younger boy was a few feet ahead, smiling at them.

"But I have a dental appointment…" The woman murmured.

"No, it's just the spells around the castle." The man said.

"Mummy! Hogwarts is over there!" The small boy said.

"Jason, I have a headache." The woman muttered. She was trying to fight off the spells.

"There's a cave up ahead, we can rest there." Jason said.

The family headed into a cave. They sat and ate a small portion of bread.

"Are you alright, Helen?" Jason asked.

"I'll be okay." His wife answered. "You were right; Hogwarts sure has a bunch of protective spells…are we going to make it?"

Jason sighed. "I don't know…after what happened to my sister, I just want to be safe."

"We've been running for years." Helen said. "The war is over by now."

Jason shook his head. "We can't be sure about that. The battle might be over, but the war isn't."

"What about our son?"

Jason looked at Alexander with a small smile. Alex smiled back.

"He'll be fine, he's a wizard." Jason said.

They sat in silence for a while until Ron noticed that the cave was flickering. Ginny nudged him and pointed to the younger Alex who was falling asleep on his mother.

The older Alex had been rooted to the spot, staring with an open mouth at his parents. He didn't register Laura holding his hand or Hermione holding the other. Malcolm and Stewart patted his back.

…

The scene changed and they were walking down into the forest. The group followed them. It was odd being silent. None of them spoke as they followed the family.

Jason was telling stories to Alex about Hogwarts.

"And that's how your Aunt Marlene narrowly dodged a Bludger. It's a good thing Sirius was there."

"Even though he caused it?" Helen said with a smile. "I remember your sister telling me that story when we got married."

Jason laughed. "My sister was a trouble magnet." She said. "She had a huge crush on Sirius for a while…shame I never found out what happened to him."

"Really?"

Jason shrugged. "Last I heard was that the Potters had to go into hiding, but that's when we were leaving the country."

"Why did we come here?" The spell was constantly making Helen forget.

"We're here to get help from Professor Dumbledore. He can help us."

"What can a teacher do?"

"He's a very powerful wizard."

Helen shook her head, she looked dizzy.

"Are you alright?" Jason asked.

"Fine, I feel very odd though."

"Mummy!" Little Alex said. "I see a unicorn!"

"A unicorn?"

Little Alex ran towards the creatures, but only managed to scare them off.

"Aww."

"My sister said something about unicorns being very shy animals." Jason said.

Alex ignored him and kept running into the forest.

"Alex, wait!"

…

The scene changed. Alex was crying on the forest floor. He appeared to have tumbled down a ledge and had a scraped knee. His mother held him, trying to comfort him. His father walked further in.

"Hello? Can you help us?" he called, seeing a bunch of shadows.

"Stay here." Helen said. "And don't make a sound, sweetie." She walked over to a large bush and peered over it. Her husband was surrounded by centaurs.

"We are not servants of humankind!" One of them roared.

"That's not what I meant; I just need to get out of here and were hoping you knew the way out."

"So you thought we'd just allow humans to roam our forest?!"

"I thought I could ask directions from those who know the forest best."

Alex, despite being told to stay, wandered over to his mother.

"We do not help humans!"

"You shall be punished for entering our forest and daring to use us as a means for your own selfish purposes."

"Selfish?! I'm trying to protect my family! I have a wife and son. You may be proud, but I know centaurs aren't heartless."

"You are not a wizard, you must be punished."

"No! Please, I have a family!"

They saw the centaurs raise their bows, but the scene changed. Helen had picked up Alex and fled.

…

She stopped, panting. She was in a forest clearing; Alex was beginning to wake up.

"I told you to stay…" Helen said.

"I'm sorry…where's Daddy?"

"I don't know, baby." She sounded close to tears.

"Do you have any food?"

"Daddy had most of the food. I'm going to find him, okay?" She pulled out a container of berries and a couple of snack bags and a canteen of water, giving them to her son. "Stay here and stay hidden. I'll be back soon."

"Mum?"

"It's going to be alright, sweetie. Hide from the centaurs; don't let any of them find you. You know what is dangerous, right?"

"Yes."

"Be safe, I love you." She kissed him and left.

Alex curled up in a ball with a blanket. He waited.

…

He hid in a tree when he saw the Ford Anglia tearing through the forest. He saw it again later, being chased by tons of spiders. He wanted to follow the car, but his mother's voice echoed in his mind, telling him to not let anybody find him. He had long forgotten that she meant centaurs and applied it to humans as well as creatures.

…

The scene changed, he looked older. His hair had gotten longer and his clothes were dirty and torn. He heard a howl and tensed. He saw a scary looking creature, snarling and howling. He blinked, wondering what a werewolf was doing there.

He hid from it until daybreak when it turned into a man. A large black square was covering Lupin's body.

The group looked at Dumbledore.

"I suppose we should allow him to keep his privacy?"

The group turned pink and nodded.

Younger Alex had a ratty blanket and put it around the man. The werewolf, now a human, began to stir and Alex hurried to hide.

The black square disappeared when Lupin had wrapped himself in the blanket. The man paled and squinted up at the sun, looking terrified. He looked down at the blanket and then searched his surroundings.

"Thank you." The man said, hoping whoever left the blanket was alright.

The man left the forest.

…

A little while later, Alex saw the man again. He winced in pain as he bent down to put the clean blanket on the forest floor.

Younger Alex stared at the man, but remained quiet.

"Again, thank you." Lupin said.

…

The scene changed again. They were now following young Alex back to the last place they saw Jason.

Hermione felt Alex tense. The boy was shaking as if he was cold. She realized that he might remember what he saw.

"Obscuro." The Headmaster said.

"Hey!"

"What's going on?"

"I can't see!"

"Huh?"

"Hermanie?!"

Dennis, Malcolm, Stewart, Laura, and Alexander had their vision blocked. Hermione squeezed Alex's hand to assure him. Laura had a grip on the other hand.

The memory was paused by Dumbledore.

"I am certain that what comes next will not be pretty." The Headmaster said. "Those who cannot stomach it, I shall block your vision during this."

"I can stomach it!" Malcolm complained.

"Be that as it may, I do not wish to scar you for life."

"I won't be able to take it." Neville said.

"Neither will I." Colin said.

They had their vision blocked as well.

"I can take it." Harry said.

"Me too." Ron said. "Hermione, please don't look."

"But I can take-"

"Please, for me?" His voice was pleading.

Hermione sighed. "Alright."

Ginny opened her mouth, but Harry shook his head. "You're innocent; you shouldn't have to see this." He said.

"But-"

"I've seen worse." Harry said. He thought he saw Dumbledore give him an odd look.

"Fine."

Ginny and Hermione had their vision blocked. Luna hadn't spoken, but Ron asked Dumbledore to block hers as well. Luna looked surprised, but nodded.

Harry and Ron braced themselves as Dumbledore continued the memory.

Ron suppressed a yelp. Harry turned almost as green as his eyes. Professor Dumbledore looked pale.

Even though they couldn't see, the group still heard young Alex's scream of fear. The young boy retched and cried. The older Alex collapsed into Hermione's arms and dissolved into heavy sobs. He remembered even though he wasn't seeing it. He knew what was going on.

Ginny felt nauseous, a few nasty thoughts were appearing in her head. Luna felt sad for Alex, she held Neville's shaking arm. Colin and Dennis were holding each other tightly. Stewart was crying as well, remembering how hard it was to lose his parents. Laura had an arm over his shoulder, she couldn't see him, but she knew he was crying.

"Alex?" Malcolm said hoarsely, trying to walk towards the sound of the younger Alex. He felt a hand on his shoulder and stopped.

…

The scene changed again to Alex by himself in the middle of a forest clearing. The blocks were lifted and they could all see again.

Malcolm looked up to see Ron behind him, pale and shaky with wide eyes. He turned around, seeing Harry shaking his head, his face a dark greenish color. The group surrounded Alex as he held Hermione.

The younger Alex cried for a long time before falling asleep in the middle of the clearing.

…

Professor Dumbledore stopped the memories. They all found themselves back in his office a minute later.

Hermione let go of Alex so she could get a better look at him. He looked defeated.

They took him back to the Room of Requirement.

…

A few days later, it was time for everyone to decide what they were doing for the holidays. The group had rarely left Alexander alone, only during lessons did he have time by himself. Thanks to the sixth years' free periods, they were able to be there more often.

Alex began to move on in the next few days. Malcolm invited the younger boy to spend the holidays at his house.

…

With that, they set off to their destinations.

Malcolm's mother took it as a personal mission to make sure Alex was fed and bathed. She also decided to give both boys a haircut.

Stewart came to visit with Dennis and Colin. Malcolm's mother was shocked at the amount of guests and gushed over Malcolm's friends. Her son blushed deeply when she kept going on about wanting him to make more friends.

They stayed in contact with the rest of the group, but putting words in code so they wouldn't be obvious if intercepted. They weren't ready to make Alex known yet.

Hermione was able to visit, revealing that she was trying to get her driver's license during the holidays.

She was very careful and concentrated, taking them on a couple of trips. By the end of the vacation, they were ready to go back to helping Alex.

Alex remembered some vacations with his parents and was able to give a few words to tell them.

…

The group met again on the train, trying to crowd into one compartment. Alex had been taken up to the school with Malcolm so that they could avoid awkward questions.

"Hang on, there are nine of us." Ron said.

They knew that two of their group were at the castle, but one was missing.

"Laura?" Ginny said. "Where'd Laura go?"

"I didn't see her on the train." Luna said.

Ron and Harry stayed while the others searched the train. They came back saying the same thing, no one had seen her.

"She's not that hard to spot when you see her." Stewart said. "Did she contact anyone at all?"

Neville shook his head. "I answered whatever letters Malcolm sent."

"Same here." Colin and Dennis said.

"I don't remember anyone discussing her." Hermione said. "Did Malcolm send letters to her too?"

"He said 'everyone' so I assume it meant all of us." Stewart said.

…

She still hadn't turned up at the feast, though none of the Hufflepuffs seemed overly concerned…or concerned at all.

Ron confronted Ernie about not paying attention. Ernie, as a prefect, should have paid attention to things going on in his house.

They waited for her in the room, but she didn't come.

Weeks passed and there was no sign of her. Alex noticed this and grew worried.

Harry called Dobby to search for her, the elf left immediately. Harry had told him to bring her to the Hospital Wing if she was injured.

Each of the group members went to Dumbledore to ask him. He said he sent letters that were unanswered. He sent an Order member to investigate.

…

Two days was all it took…two days later, Dobby appeared in the Hospital Wing. After Madam Pomfrey had the living daylights scared out of her, she gasped at what Dobby had brought back.

Dobby popped into the Gryffindor dormitory, startling Neville who was the only one in the room.

"Mr. Longbottom, sir!" Dobby squeaked. "Hospital Wing!" He disappeared with a crack.

Neville rushed out of the room. He spotted Hermione, tore her away from her book and ran out of the Common Room.

"Neville, wha-"

"Hospital Wing!" Neville said.

Hermione nodded.

They passed by the Creevey brothers and motioned for them to follow.

Dobby found Luna, Stewart, and Malcolm in the Room of Requirement, said the same thing he did to Neville and vanished to find Harry, Ron, and Ginny.

They were just finishing Quidditch Practice when Dobby appeared.

"Coote, Peakes, pack up. Robins, hold that question!" Harry said. Ron found Ginny about to kiss Dean when she was pulled away. She yelped in surprise and was about to yell at her brother when he said they were going to the Hospital Wing.

Harry and the redheads ran to the castle without further explanation, not bothering to explain why they left their teammates in a flurry.

They arrived, panting heavily, to the fourth floor to find the other members of the group waiting outside.

"No more than six to a bed." Neville said. "That and Professor Dumbledore's in there. He wants to figure out what happened first. Then he'll let us in."

"What's he doing here?" Ginny pointed to Alex.

"He followed us, and now we wait." Luna said.

"Laura?" Alex asked.

"She's in there." Colin said.

The group stared at the Hospital Wing doors, waiting.

…

It was an hour before Dumbledore came out with a somber expression.

"No!" Stewart said. "Don't tell us…sh-she's-"

"She's not dead, Mr. Ackerley, but she is dying." The Headmaster said.

"What happened?" Harry asked.

"Her parents are Death Eaters." Luna said.

The group stared at her.

"She let me know when we were staying with Alex for a while. She asked me not to tell you. She comes to Hogwarts to escape them. They hurt her during the summer, that's why she hates going back." Luna said.

"But why did she go back this time?" Harry asked.

"She wanted to see if she could visit Malcolm or Stewart or Dennis. She even wanted to visit me, but she never contacted…" Luna trailed off sadly.

"She didn't respond." Malcolm said. "All of you responded in some way to my letters. I sent three and everyone except Laura responded. I know Hermione missed my first one because she was busy, but she told me that in response to my second letter."

Hermione nodded. "But Laura didn't respond to any?"

Malcolm bit his lip and shook his head.

"Er, Dennis Creevey?"

They looked around to see Susan Bones.

"Pardon me, Headmaster." Susan said, "But I found this book with a note on it."

She handed them Laura's comic book.

"One of the girls lost her hairpin and it ended up under Laura's dresser where it was found."

"Thanks Susan." Dennis said, taking the book.

Susan smiled and left.

"Mr. Creevey, would you share this inside the Hospital Wing?"

The group headed inside the Hospital Wing. Two beds had their curtains drawn around it.

"Just to let you know, her parents have been arrested." Dumbledore said. "However, I do not think Azkaban is guarded well."

Alex let out a gasp. He had snuck away from the group and looked into the curtains closest to them.


	10. Our stars, Our Forest

The girl was heavily bandaged and nearly unrecognizable. Alex put a hand on her shoulder, trying to wake her up. The curtains opened and the others saw her.

"Laura…" Alex whispered.

"Oh no…" Hermione cried onto the person nearest her. That person happened to be Ron.

Ron turned pink, and then looked at Laura. "Blimey…I feel bad now."

"What happened?"

"Mr. Potter, did you send Dobby the House Elf?"

Harry hesitated.

"Yes…" he said.

"It's a good thing you did or we may not have saved a life."

"Sir?"

"Miss Madley has a younger brother about three years old."

As if to prove this, a loud cry came from the second bed. Madam Pomfrey pulled back the curtains and picked up the boy.

The small boy saw his sister and began crying harder. He had small scars on his arm, but looked healthy otherwise.

"Miss Madley was found to have several bruises, scars, and cuts. Many of these abrasions are relatively fresh. It seems that her brother was hurt and she possibly tried to intervene to defend him. She was also subjected to several dark hexes and what I believe might be sixteen Cruciatus Curses."

The group stared at Professor Dumbledore in utter shock.

"S-sixteen?" Colin gasped. "But…that's-"

"Deadly." Neville finished.

"It is. We do not expect her to survive the next few days. We are going to send her to St. Mungo's, but her brother is in danger."

"He can stay at my house." Malcolm said.

"Would you mind taking Alexander to the Room of Requirement? I shall be there momentarily. Please take Mr. Madley with you."

Luna smiled at the three year old who lifted his arms towards her, sensing something familiar.

…

Professor Dumbledore found the sad group in the Room of Requirement. Alex was entertaining Laura's brother by chasing him around. The little boy had given Luna a paper that looked severely crumpled. They stopped when the Headmaster entered.

They looked at the comic book. A folded parchment paper was tucked inside it. The note on the cover said "to Dennis 'Calvin' Creevey", but the note was addressed to all of them.

"Dear Forest Children,

It may be strange hearing from me since I presume that by this time, I am no longer of this earth. No, I have not taken my life, but a rather unforeseen circumstance has. It has been an amazing adventure getting to know all of you. I wish nothing but the best for you and for Alex. Please understand that I do love life, just not the one I live. I live for my baby brother. If it wasn't for him, I would have left long ago. I refuse to let my brother become monsters like our parents. Yes, I admit our parents are Death Eaters. They constantly spoke about making me spy on Hogwarts, but I refused, and when I did I was tortured.

Harry. Thank you for accepting me into this group, you are very kind and I hope you are able to win whatever battle comes next.

Ron. I know we never got to talk one on one, but I know you see me as Luna. Honestly, it doesn't matter, you still were not mean. Thanks for letting me stay.

Hermione. I can tell that Alex views you as possibly a mother substitute or a protective sister like I am to my brother. Please make sure you all survive this. Thank you for being the protector.

Neville. You really are funny, even if you don't think you are. Those jokes honestly did make me laugh, I wasn't kidding. Thanks for the laughs.

Luna. Thank you for listening. You took in everything I said and gave me advice. You are very kind and I admired you.

Ginny. Thank you for not passing judgment. Thank you for treating me as one of the gang.

Colin. You really have great stories to tell and I hope you get to continue telling them. Thanks for the stories.

Dennis. Thanks for being Calvin. I say that because you helped me keep going, reminding me of my brother who needed me. Thank you for pushing me.

Stewart. Thanks for believing in me. To answer your question, I hide because that's what I do best. I often hid with my brother, reading to him so he wouldn't have to think about our parents.

Malcolm. Thank you for being the underdog. I truly hope your voice is heard. I have wanted to for years, but was afraid of what would happen to my brother if I spoke out more than I already have.

Alex. Thank you for being a friend. I enjoyed teaching you and being able to hang out with you. I wish nothing but the best for you, my friend.

Don't worry for me because I am in a better place now. Please care for my brother; he does not know his name. My parents refused to name him until they were able to brainwash him. They called him 'child' but never by name. Please tell him that I love him, tell him his name, and make sure he is loved."

The three year old looked up at Luna with sad eyes.

"Lowa?" He asked.

At that moment, a silvery Patronus appeared.

"She's gone, Albus." Madam Pomfrey's sad voice said.

"Lowa?" The three year old asked again.

"I'm sorry." Luna said, giving the child a hug.

The boy began crying.

Dennis read the crumpled note. It looked as if it was written quickly.

"Malfoy Manor. Death Eater meetings. Draco Malfoy is a Death Eater. Don't ask, don't question. Take care of my brother. "

Dumbledore paled.

"I wasn't supposed to read that, was I?" Dennis asked.

"None of this leaves the room." The Headmaster said. He grabbed the note and stood up. "I shall be back." He left the room.

"Now what?"

"Who me?" The three year old asked.

"Laura." Alex answered.

"Huh?"

"Laura brother, name Laura."

"You want us to name him after Laura?" Stewart asked.

Alex nodded.

"How about Laurence?" Hermione asked.

"Laurie for short." Ginny added.

"And his middle name is Calvin." Colin said.

The others nodded in agreement.

…

A few months later, Laurie had been sent to Malcolm's house to live with him and his mother. The school had been told of Laura's death, but they started muttering during Dumbledore's speech.

Furious, Malcolm dragged Stewart and Dennis up to the high table and ranted to the school, telling them basically what he had told Snape. He challenged the school to think instead of just going along with rumor.

…

They took Alex to Ollivanders and got him a wand. He swished it around happily, remembering the rules that he was told.

Finally, it was the Easter holidays and time to bring Alex for evaluation.

Professor McGonagall saw the boy and blinked, he looked like any other student who had been brought to the Headmaster's office. The boy was a little nervous, but clean and as happy as he could be after losing a friend.

The Headmaster seemed pleased and took the Sorting Hat down. Alex, having had this explained to him, politely refused.

"Why not?" The Headmaster asked.

"Forest." Alex said. "I am not…Hogwarts…I am Forest's…"

"I get it. He's the Forest's child, not Hogwarts." Hermione said. "He wants to learn magic, but he doesn't want to be sorted."

"In an odd way, that is understandable." Professor Dumbledore said. "Alright then, good luck Alexander."

Alex smiled.

…

Alexander returned after the Battle of Hogwarts, having hidden in the Forbidden Forest during the school year. Professor Snape never told the Carrows about Alex and he wasn't formally introduced to the school until after the battle.

After the events, no one was really shocked or cared very much. They were thinking about the battle and still bore the scars of last year, mentally, emotionally, and physically.

Laura's parents perished in battle and Laurie was put up for adoption. Malcolm's mother offered to adopt him, saying that the little boy was already a member of the family.

Unfortunately, Colin did not make it. He had been worried about Alex and thought he was in the battlefield, went to search for the boy but never returned.

Alex grew up to become a pretty good wizard. He decided to become a naturalist since he was already in tune with nature.

Dennis tried to move on without his brother and became a pretty good photographer. He decided to journey with Alex and take pictures of their findings.

Stewart went on to be a brilliant researcher who had opinions that were normally unspoken. He was well liked for his wisdom.

Malcolm decided to take on the post of Potions Professor and Head of Slytherin House after Slughorn officially retired in a lavish style. He decided that he'd pay attention to his students and make sure everyone was as comfortable as possible, even the underdogs.

Inter-house unity improved slightly, but the dark reputation of Slytherin lingered a little.

The ten remaining Forest Children always included Colin and Laura in their fantastic tale. Laurie eventually learned of his sister's life and wrote stories about her. He became the unofficial member of the Forest Children.

They often joked that the Forest Children were divided into subsections.

The Golden Trio: Harry, Ron, and Hermione

The Silver Trio: Ginny, Luna, and Neville

The Calvin kids: Laura, Colin, Dennis, and Laurie who was added later.

And The Three from the Trees: Alex, Malcolm, and Stewart.

But they all agreed that Alexander was the original Forest's Child. Somewhere in space, two stars seemed to flash brighter as if to agree.

**A/N: I felt this story was not one of my best, but I didn't want to leave anyone hanging. Hopefully I can make better Harry Potter stories in the future that actually have a good ending. Thanks for reading.**


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